Explanatory Statements Research Articles

The Impact of Monetary Policy on the Australian Equity Market

In Australia, unlike US and European jurisdictions, the Reserve Bank of Australia discloses its stance on monetary policy via two separate events: the announcement of a monthly target cash rate for overnight loans; and two weeks later, the release of the explanatory minutes of the Board meeting that decided the rate outcome. This study takes advantage of this practice in order to examine the impact of monetary policy announcements and explanatory statements on the Australian equity market. We find that both monetary policy announcements and explanatory minute releases have a significant and comparable impact on the returns and volatility of the Australian equity market. Further, the impact of monetary policy announcements is demonstrated to be influenced by the state of the economy. Specifically, returns intensify during the Global Financial Crisis and are affected by negative sentiment.

Prevalence and Factors Influencing Diabetic Foot Ulcer among Diabetic Patients Attending Arbaminch Hospital, South Ethiopia

Background: Diabetic foot ulcer is one of the long standing complications of diabetic mellitus with the life time risk up to 25%. In Africa in general, particularly in Ethiopia, there are limited epidemiological studies related to diabetic foot ulcer. Objective: The main objective of this study is to assess prevalence and factors influencing diabetic foot ulcer among diabetic patients attending Arbaminch hospital. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted on 216 diabetic clients attending Arbaminch hospital from Feb10, 2013 to April 10, 2013. Subjects were identified using simple random sampling and data was collected by four trained diploma level nurses using interviewer administered questioner, record review check list and observation check lists. The data was coded and entered to Epidata version 3.1 and exported to SPSS version 16.0 for analysis. Descriptive analysis was done for sociodemographic variables, diabetic knowledge, diabetes self care practice and attitude and clinical factors. Binary logistic regression analysis was also done to identify independent factors associated with diabetic foot ulcer and significant factors was declared at p<0.05 with 95% confidence interval. Finally data was presented with explanatory statements, tables and graphs. Result: All of the study subjects were interviewed which gives 100% response rate with the mean ± SD age of 50.72 ± 13.39 years. Out of the total 216 study subjects , about 32(14.8%) has diabetic foot ulcer, 129(59.7%) were male, 61(28.2%) from rural, 132(61.11%) were overweight, 97(44.5%) have poor diabetic foot self care practice and 80(37%) of them have secondary education. rural residence (AOR=4.074, 95% CI 1.262-13.151), absence of co-morbidity (AOR=0.611, 95% CI 0.131-0.955), mean arterial blood pressure greater than 90(AOR=5.113, 95% CI 1.285-20.347), duration of diabetes for more than 10years (AOR=8.452, 95% CI 2.365-30.994), are independent factor associated with DFU. Conclusions and recommendations: Significant proportion of patients with diabetes developed diabetic foot ulcer. Rural residence; presence of co-morbidity; duration of diabetes, mean arterial blood pressure and occupation are factors associated with diabetic foot ulcer. In addition to regular diabetic care emphasis should be given on enhancing diabetic patient’s knowledge of self care practice and regular diabetic foot evaluation

Developing marine historic environment management policy: The English Heritage experience

This paper provides an opportunity to examine the involvement of English Heritage in the development of policy and practice with particular regard to how archaeology and features of historic interest are addressed under national legislation, international conventions and EU law. In this paper we provide an explanation of action taken to support conservation, understanding and enjoyment of the historic environment, such as those sites that are legally protected as historic shipwreck sites, and other features that comprise the historic environment, but which are recognised and protected through other legal mechanisms e.g., military vessels and aeroplanes. It is apparent to us that when considering the management agenda for the marine environment attention is also given to archaeological material that predates tidal inundation, as well as the subsequent legacy of maritime activities. To support this approach we examine how the historic environment is defined and included in objectives, policy and law, such as the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009, as well as other European or international programmes to promote marine policy and spatial planning. In the years since the National Heritage Act 2002, and the empowerment of English Heritage to support marine projects, we assess the production of explanatory statements and guidance to inform protection in recognition of how change may affect historic environment features. In addition, it is apparent that extensive development is now taking place further offshore (e.g., renewable power projects) and we direct attention at how English Heritage's role is affected by legally defined maritime territorial limits that dictate interpretation of what the marine environment comprises and how such limits influence regulatory controls placed on the management of cultural heritage.

An Examination of the Differential Impact of Monetary Policy Announcements and Explanatory Minutes Releases on the Australian Interest Rate Futures Market

Unlike US and European jurisdictions, Australian monetary policy announcements are not followed promptly by projections materials or statements that explain the decision process. This information is disclosed two weeks later when the explanatory minutes of the Reserve Bank board meeting are released. This paper is therefore the first study to exploit the unique features of the Australian monetary policy environment in order to examine the differential impact of monetary policy announcements and explanatory statements on the Australian interest rate futures market. We find that both monetary policy announcements and explanatory minutes releases have a significant impact on the returns and volatility of Australian interest rate futures contracts. When this impact is differentiated, the informational content of explanatory minutes releases is shown to elicit a larger response in returns. Further, the impact of monetary policy announcements is demonstrated to be affected by conditioning on the state of the economy. Specifically, returns respond asymmetrically to interest rate changes, intensify during the Global Financial Crisis, and are moderated by sentiment.

Legislation by Amateurs: The Role of Legal Details and Knowledge in Initiative Deliberation

Citizens’ deliberations about the legal nature and effects of ballot measures were examined through a qualitative content analysis of transcripts from the 2010 Oregon Citizens’ Initiative Review, the Citizens’ Review Statements produced by that review, and official state explanatory statements describing ballot measures. Deliberations and statements were coded for law-related topics, functions, uses of narrative, and motivations for narration. Citizens’ deliberations and Citizens’ Review Statements were found to emphasize the policy objectives and unintended or adverse consequences of ballot measures, as well as the application of legal rules to multiple factual scenarios. By contrast, official state explanatory statements describing ballot measures made no mention of policy objectives or unintentional or adverse consequences. Results suggest that citizens’ approach to assessing ballot measures may have both strategic/instrumental and realistic dimensions and that rule-application may play a key role in enabling citizens’ understanding of the legal aspects of ballot measures.

Oak Trees and Medical Necessity

Oak Trees and Medical Necessity

Postcards

Postcards Glenna Sloan, Naohiko Ueno, Ines Galling, Alicia Muñoz Álvarez, Nurit Shilo-Cohen, and Constance Vidor Translated by Clandia Söffner Oldsters who admit to learning to read with old-style comic books will recognize the worth of the best graphic novels to tempt today’s beginning readers away for a while from electronic games and to convince reluctant readers that reading can be easy and fun. Engaging cartoon cats act out in this third Binky adventure. Their encounter features a timely topic, slapstick, dry humor, wit, and no gratuitous violence. Each page contains speech and sound effects in and out of bubbles as well as explanatory statements to help readers to the point. In a plot full of surprises, Binky, a certified member of F.U.R.S.T. (Felines of the Universe Ready for Space Travel), protects his space station (home) from alien domination (bugs!). Other noteworthy 2011 Kids Can Press graphic novels for young readers include Luz Sees the Light, (8–12); Big City Otto (8–11) and The Sign of the Black Rock (9–12). Glenna Sloan Ashley Spires, Binky Under Pressure. Toronto, Canada: Kids Can Press, 2011 64 pp. ISBN: 9781554535040 (graphic novel, ages 7–10) [End Page 23] This manga is the first in a series of stories featuring the spirited green-haired young girl, Yotsuba, whose origins are a mystery until the last volume. Humorous, silly situations involving other people often happen when this adventurous child is present. In a School Library Journal review on Amazon, the reviewer aptly dubs Yotsuba “a Japanese version of Dennis the Menace.” In drawing this manga the main point seems to be to present the central character, Yotsuba, in a comic way. Her hair is like the four-leaf clover when she is in a happy, healthy state; when she is angry, cries or gets sick, it withers up. Yotsuba makes a charming first impression; she quickly has everyone’s sympathy. In conversation, Yotsuba is not only delightfully childlike, she is honest and makes in sightful points. This comic reminds us that the importance of manga is to be found as much in the words as the pictures. Naohiko Ueno, manga writer Kiyohiko Azuma, Yo TSUBA&! Volume 1 (Yo TSUBA and I). Tokyo, Japan: ADV Manga, 2005 232 pp. ISBN-10: 1413903177; ISBN-13: 9781413903171 (graphic novel/manga, ages 4+) [End Page 31] In druben! (On the Other Side), author Simon Schwartz tells his own biography, as well as that of his parents and grand parents, against the backdrop of the general history of the German Democratic Republic. While his father’s parents strongly believe in the state and regime, his mother’s parents remain skeptical. Coming from such different backgrounds, Simon’s parents meet at university and slowly but surely his father’s socialist convictions begin to wane. He feels increasingly monitored and patronized by the state. After long discussions, Simon’s parents decide to emigrate, even though this causes a rift between Simon’s father and his parents. Told in succinct dialogues and narrator’s comments in an episodic structure, the book expresses the parents’ dreams and longing, their fear and anger. Their mélange of feelings epitomizes that of many other GDR-citizens. The book’s visual language is as clear and multifaceted as its linguistic style:. Impressive black-and-white illustrations, drawn from various perspectives, no t only give insight into the daily life within the GDR; in an ingenious way, they also visually express the thoughts and emotions of Simon, his parents, and his grandparents. The book was shortlisted for the German Youth Literature Award 2010 in the category of nonfiction. Ines Galling Trans. Clandia Söffner Simon Schwartz, drüben! [on the other Side]. Berlin: Avant-Verlag, 2009 108 pp. ISBN: 978-3-939080-37-4 (graphic novel, nonfiction, 10+) [End Page 39] In the near future, a GPS prototype provides the ability to locate places and to rework deep memory and space as virtual images. A successful publicist who is going through a personal and professional crisis has the opportunity to try this psycho-navigator that leads to a mysterious place and a disturbing possibility: another way of survival...

Geoscience explanations: Identifying what is needed for generating scientific narratives from data models

As models of geoscience systems grow in number and size, so grows the need for tools to help express the output of those models in usable forms. In this paper the utility of the output of a model is defined as its ability to support scientific explanation. Commonly the output of a model might include statistics, graphs, maps, images and animations, which require expert interpretation and evaluation in the context of the model setup or implementation. Here the narrative is presented as a type of output from a model that can present the results of a model in a form that is more useful for the non-expert. Narratives provide a rich medium for expressing causal chains of events that form the basis for explanation and its future use in policy and decision making. This paper reviews research on narratives and their role in scientific explanation. The principles of narrative construction for the Geosciences are identified, which forms the basis for determining the key components needed in explanatory statements for communicating the output of geoscience models. The potential of existing data models used in model output for generating narratives are explored, followed by the conceptual presentation of an extended data model, which supports the narrative unit and has the potential to automate aspects of the generation of scientific explanation in narrative form.

A Comprehensive Science: A Review of Moore's Conceptual Foundations of Radical Behaviorism.

Of the various scientific literatures that define and describe the products and progress of behavior analysis, one literature addresses the field in its broadest and most abstract characteristics, and in its most far-reaching scope and implications. The literature of radical behaviorism began with Skinner's 1945 paper on “The Operational Analysis of Psychological Terms” and continued in various sources throughout his career (e.g., Skinner, 1953, 1957, 1964, 1969, 1974). The first person to address and explore the unique characteristics of the system described by Skinner was Willard F. Day, Jr. (for a collection of papers, see Leigland, 1992). An expanding literature of radical behaviorism has followed, and along with numerous papers, several excellent books have appeared. One of these books is William Baum's Understanding Behaviorism: Behavior, Culture, and Evolution (1994, 2005; Leigland, 2006). Another excellent treatment is Mecca Chiesa's Radical Behaviorism: The Philosophy and the Science (1994). To these we may add Jay Moore's Conceptual Foundations of Radical Behaviorism (2008). As comprehensive a treatment as one may find in a single source, Moore's detailed descriptions of Skinner's radical behaviorism in historical, philosophical, and psychological contexts make it required reading for all behavior analysts (along with Baum's and Chiesa's books) and (would that we could only arrange it) for psychologists, cognitivists, linguists, and philosophers as well. The book is organized into sections preceded by an introductory chapter. The first chapter, “Radical Behaviorism as a Philosophy of Science,” provides a brief introduction to the field of behavior analysis and to radical behaviorism as the philosophy of science that underlies that field. The chapter also introduces the central themes that appear later in the book, including behavior as a subject matter its own right, the notion of internal causes of behavior and mentalism, and by contrast, “The emphasis that radical behaviorism places on explanations that identify causes at a consistent level of observation and analysis” (p. 8). An example of that emphasis is seen in the following passage, which highlights an epistemological theme found throughout the book: As discussed throughout this book, radical behaviorism is interested in providing comprehensive explanatory statements about the cause's of anyone's behavior. … By virtue of its fundamental concern with verbal behavior and knowledge claims, radical behaviorism is in a unique position: It is based on the science for which it stands as a foundation. Importantly, then, radical behaviorism admits no discontinuity between the behavior being explained and the behavior of explaining it. (p. 9) Of special interest is the source of the causes to be used in the explanation of behavior. A sharp distinction is drawn in the first chapter between behavioral and mental dimensions as sources of causes of behavior, and the distinction and its implications are emphasized at many points throughout the book. A causal explanation based on behavioral dimensions involves “the totality of variables and relations of which the behavior is a function” (p. 6), whereas mental dimensions are invoked “when the explanation includes elements that are not expressed in the same terms and cannot be confirmed with the same methods of observation and analysis as the facts they are said to address” (p. 6). In promoting behavioral over mentalistic explanations of behavior, the principal argument against the latter is also stated clearly and repeatedly in the first chapter, as it is throughout the book, as shown in the following passage: Radical behaviorism is concerned about talk of mental causes and dimensions because it is fanciful to think that there is such a qualitatively different dimension with qualitatively different causes. To state the matter somewhat starkly, there is no such dimension and there are no such causes. They are fictions, talk of which is a product of nonscientific influences. The properties with which the mental causes are supposedly endowed ultimately sidetrack more effective analyses in terms of causal relations in the one dimension in which behavior takes place. …There is no mental life in the sense implied by traditional psychology because there is no mental dimension that differs from a behavioral dimension. (p. 6) The argument against mentalism in this passage includes two components. One of these is a pragmatic argument about effective scientific practices, and the other is an ontological argument about what does and does not exist. The utility of each of these arguments in making a case for radical behaviorism and against mentalism will be examined more fully in the remarks that follow. Thus, the first chapter lays out the major themes and positions that are developed throughout the book. Following the introductory chapter, the book is organized into four sections, each of which will be addressed in the comments below.

Scientific Problem Solving in a Virtual Laboratory: A Comparison Between Individuals and Pairs

This study compared individuals with pairs in a scientific problem-solving task. Participants interacted with a virtual psychological laboratory called Virtue to reason about a visual search theory. To this end, they created hypotheses, designed experiments, and analyzed and interpreted the results of their experiments in order to discover which of five possible factors affected the visual search process. Before and after their interaction with Virtue, participants took a test measuring theoretical and methodological knowledge. In addition, process data reflecting participants’ experimental activities and verbal data were collected. The results showed a significant but equal increase in knowledge for both groups. We found differences between individuals and pairs in the evaluation of hypotheses in the process data, and in descriptive and explanatory statements in the verbal data. Interacting with Virtue helped all students improve their domain-specific and domain-general psychological knowledge.

Reducible and Nonsensical Uses of Game Theory

The mathematical tools of game theory are frequently used in the social sciences and economic consultancy. But how do they explain social phenomena and support prescriptive judgments? And is the use of game theory really necessary? I analyze the logical form of explanatory and prescriptive game theoretical statements, and argue for two claims: (1) explanatory game theory can and should be reduced to rational choice theory in all cases; and (2) prescriptive game theory gives bad advice in some cases, is reducible to rational choice theory in other cases, while it makes no sense in yet other cases.

Very Precise Relationships: Two Interviews with Ben Johnston

In 1981, 1 interviewed my father, Ben Johnston, for Century 2, the student journal I then edited. It was a little daunting since I'm not a musician. So I consulted him about how to frame the most fundamental questions that it would be possible to ask on the subject. We wanted to talk about the nature and meaning of music itself and his music in particular. Until now that interview, published under the title A Sacred Cow Should Be Trounced at Least Once a Day, never made it past the pages of that limited-circulation journal.1 In 2006 American Music asked to reprint the interview along with a new version, in which I would repeat the questions I posed to my father twenty-five years ago. As one might expect, his responses were somewhat different this time around, beginning with his objections to the original interview's title (which referred to the controversy over Knocking Piece, explained below). My father has never been very interested in following prescribed or predictable routes and during much of this second interview he didn't in fact, he mostly didn't allow me to ask questions. Rather, he anticipated them, responding to the explanatory statements that I made as I prepared to ask them. He also suggested that I read two essays from the recently published book of his essays, Maximum Clarity,1 so that he could comment a bit on those. After we finished, as a sort of postscript, he responded briefly to most of the original questions. In

Results of Recognition Tests on Japanese Subjects of the Labels Presently Used in Japan and the UN‐GHS Labels

The UN-GHS, a globally harmonized system of classifying and labeling chemicals that was recommended by the United Nations in 2003, will be implemented globally in 2008. This system is expected to encourage people to behave in a way that reduces the risk of accidents or diseases caused by chemicals. However, the UN-GHS differs significantly from the present Japanese system of classifying and labeling chemicals. In particular, since the Japanese system does not require pictographic labels, ordinary Japanese people are not familiar with the new pictographic labels defined in the UN-GHS. Hence, before introducing the UN-GHS at the Japanese workplace, it is critical to clarify the actual usage conditions and the problems that this labeling system of hazardous chemicals poses, and to manage the related problems. We conducted recognition tests on Japanese subjects of the labels presently used in Japan and the UN-GHS labels. The results revealed that the subjects faced some difficulty in recognizing the meanings of some UN-GHS labels. The percentage of questions that were answered correctly with regard to the labels depicting 'cylinder,' 'corrosion,' 'health hazard,' and 'aqueous hazard,' with no accompanying explanatory statements, was less than 60. The results of the answers regarding the labels depicting 'flame' and 'flame over circle' revealed that many subjects were unable to distinguish one from the other. Further, many subjects were unable to clearly distinguish 'skull and crossbones' from 'health hazard.' These results indicate that it is very important to impart correct education regarding these labels.

The New European Regulatory Impact Assessment - In Theory and Practice

With its communication on impact assessment of June 5, 2002, the European Commission has initiated a new era concerning the preparation and explanation of European legislative action. The Commission now strives for an integrated assessment of all major initiatives, taking into account each and every segment concerned. The Commission expressly thought of the introduction of the “Regulatory Impact Assessment” (RIA) as a means of justifying a chosen policy option. The impact assessment process is part of the Commission’s efforts to implement the subsidiarity principle (Art. 5 section 2 TEEC) in the area of governance and better lawmaking. According to the Secretariat General, the process aims to improve the quality of Commission proposals as well as to improve and simplify the regulatory environment. This paper explicates the basic features of the Commission’s approach, illustrated by three examples for impact assessments that have been carried out under the new regime: it focuses on the question as to how recent impact assessment practice fared compared to the standards set by the Commission itself. However, the (potential) role of assessment reports as a means to foster transparency even in the judicial context seems to be underdiscussed in the literature. Hence, the article examines the material legal requirements concerning the substance of governmental reasoning, and legal demands as to whether and how to present explanatory statements under Community law. In the end, there is an attempt to assess the pros and cons of using assessment reports as statements of basis and purpose pursuant Art. 253 TEEC.

Book Review: Network Analysis and Ethnographic Problems: Process Models of a Turkish Nomad Clan, by Douglas R. White and Ulla C. Johansen (Oxford, UK and Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2004, Cloth / 2006, Paper, 544 pages)

Readers of Structure & Dynamics will appreciate Network Analysis and Ethnographic Problems by Douglas White and Ulla Johansen because it takes the very best in mathematical approaches to social structure and applies them to real data of significant scale over a period of many decades. The book represents a perfect combination of ethnographic method, using detailed professional observations over many decades (1956-1995) with analysis using highly advanced network modeling, graph theory, and, in the estimation of this reviewer, unexcelled computational expertise. The association of three highly unusual factors—years of genealogical information, years of observing and recording a people’s marriages and migrations, and an interest in constructing scientific explanatory statements about the social structures that emerge as these natural and cultural processes unfold—results in a unique book. In theoretical interest, it has something in common with two foundational works that set off years of anthropological wrangling about kinship, George Peter Murdock’s Social Structure (1949) and Claude Levi-Strauss’ Elementary Structures of Kinship (1969, original French version in 1949). What seems to have prompted mathematical anthropologist and network analyst Douglas White to team up with more traditional ethnographer Ulla Johansen was the possibility of using her incredibly detailed knowledge of Turkish nomads’ social activities over several generations to try to resolve the most vexing problems of those two opposing theoretical systems. The result of the collaboration between White and Johansen is a book that, like those two earlier efforts, will undoubtedly serve as a take-off point for many other scholars to follow. In addition to its contribution to our understanding of kinship theory in a quite new way, this book makes an outstanding contribution by reintroducing ethnographers to the network perspective. Fifty years ago, social anthropologists J. A. Barnes and Elizabeth Bott introduced network analysis into ethnography. Their initial steps made it possible for J. Clyde Mitchell to cut an exciting path that was soon followed by other British social anthropologists, revealing how valuable network analysis could be, especially in the study of urbanization of African populations. The end of the formal colonial era slowed social anthropological research in Africa in the decades following 1960. Also, changes in the interests of anthropologists in the English-speaking world, such as the reduction of interest in comparative social structures and cultures, coupled with rising interest in qualitative interpretive ethnography, left the field of social network analysis to be developed by sociologists and organizational scientists. Douglas White, however, is one of a small number of anthropologists who developed the mathematical expertise necessary to make a genuine contribution to network analysis of complex systems through combining graph theory, long-term fieldwork, and the electronic computation required to deal with masses of quantitative data. These are the skills he brought to this work, putting this book at the cutting edge of network studies, regardless of discipline. So, even those who are not interested in Turkish nomads, per se, may find this book of great value. Whether the reader is interested in kinship, in economics, in politics or history, this book might be considered must reading. However, it isn’t easy reading. Although the book is well-written, the subject matter is very complex and multidimensional. It contains many necessary tables and figures. It even gives “url” addresses to color-coded figures that are available only on the web, figures so complex that they cannot be understood without the color coding. Something that some readers may not understand is that although most graphic illustrations appear in only two dimensions, graph theory is designed to explain

From episcopal conception to monastic compilation: Hemming's Cartulary in context

This article examines the structure and the contents of the late eleventh century Worcester cartulary which forms the second part of London, British Library, Cotton Tiberius A. XIII. Its sections are analysed and checked against the explanatory statements on the composition of the libellus provided by Hemming in his Enucleatio. This essay then contextualizes the composition of the cartulary through an analysis of its various components. Particular attention is paid to the development of the monastic community of Worcester in the late eleventh century and the ways in which the manuscript seems to reflect their acquisition of a specific and distinctive identity. The development, therefore, of their relationship with the bishop of Worcester is especially significant. The evidence provided by the cartulary suggests that, by the time the Norman Samson succeeded Bishop Wulfstan II in 1096, the monks’ attitude towards their bishop had noticeably changed from the time when Wulfstan had first suggested the cartulary's composition.

知情同意與語境

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract also in English.理解是實現知情同意的基礎，而理解與知情同意的語境學問題有密切關係。醫生常常抱怨病人聽不懂，病人也認為醫生的解釋過科術語化。問題就在於醫患雙方語境的差異。20世紀80年代對知情同意的研究已經開始從告訴病人什麼資訊轉向了怎樣告訴病人的研究。因此醫生除了關心病人敘述的意義之外，還需要關注以各㮔語言為中介與事實之間所建立的聯繫，注意語句的規範性以及正確地把握雙方的語言意圖和目的。本文試圖對知情同意進行語義學、語形學和語用學的分析，以便從這三者統一上來透視和闡述知情同意的各種語境的規定性，以提高知情同意的可理解性。Understanding, being closely associated with the context, is the basis of realization of informed consent. Physician often complains that patients cannot well comprehend medical information, while patients are often unsatisfied with the explanatory statements and technical terms given by physicians. Since 1980s the emphasis in the studies of informed consent has shifted from what should be presented to patient to how to present the related information to patients. Besides being concerned with the meaning of the narratives of patients, physician should pay close attention to the connection of the medical facts or information and the everyday language, to maintain the norms of the syntax, and to understand the real goal and intention of the patients. This paper aims to approach the context of informed consent by semantic analysis, syntax and pragmatics.Informed consent involves much more than merely reading and signing a paper. It normally has two essential parts: a document and a process. The document of informed consent should be understandable to any ordinary patient in the local population. It should be written in such a way that anyone with an education level of the ninth grade or lower can read it. To make the document of informed consent easy-to-read, the following requirements should be met. First, the language is everyday language and familiar to the readers. Any scientific, medical, or legal terms should be defined clearly. Second, terms and key concepts should be consistent throughout the document. Third, sentences should be short, direct, and easy to comprehend. Fourth, the paragraph should be short too. Each paragraph coveys one major idea only. Fifth, every idea should be clear and logically sequenced. Last but not least important, readability analysis should be to determine the reading level of the document.The process of informed con sent process requires physicians to provide the patient with ongoing explanations so that patients can make his or her informed decisions. This is to say, before the patient makes his or her decisions, the physician should fully discuss related issues with the patient. Of course, the physician's communications kills are usually difficult to change. However, physicians can improve their communication skills through learning and practicing.Of course, in China, not only researchers and physicians, but patients and research participants, including the public who can be regarded as the potential subjects, lack the full understanding of the principle of informed consent. It is thus important to improve the nationwide level of education, for it is only by doing that the principle of informed consent can be carried out in reality. The current level of education of the nation is not high yet, and many people even cannot fully understand some basic terms in medical and life sciences. There is s till a still considerable amount of illiterates in China. In medical education, especially in the educating of medical ethics, we have not paid enough attention to on the principle of informed consent so that some medical students even never heard the term" informed consent." As a result, there is still a long way for us to go.Informed consent, serving as an effective measure to protect the subjects and patients, has enjoyed the wide recognition in the fields of medical and related laws. It has become the paradigm of consent in medical research and clinical practice internationally. Many international relative organization s have regarded informed consent a basic ethical requirement. Legally speaking, physicians and patients are equal. But in reality they are not equal. There is an imbalance of medical knowledge between doctors and patients. Although the patient has the right to make his or her own decision, he or she is often not capable of deciding and choosing. It is necessary to establish the law in order to guarantee the realization of the patient's rights such as informed consent.DOWNLOAD HISTORY | This article has been downloaded 13 times in Digital Commons before migrating into this platform.

Endorsement of Professional Multicultural Rehabilitation Competencies and Standards

This article proposes specific multicultural rehabilitation competencies and standards that define a professional culturally competent rehabilitation counselor. Cross-cultural skills are based on three characteristics across three dimensions: beliefs and attitudes, knowledge, and skills. Explanatory statements operationalizing each competency area are offered. In reinforcing the need and rationale for a multicultural perspective in rehabilitation counseling and rehabilitation education programs, the authors urgently appeal to the leadership of professional rehabilitation organizations to infuse multiculturalism throughout their organizations. Specific recommendations toward endorsement of the proposed competencies are set forth.

Multicultural Counseling Competencies: An Exploratory Factor Analysis

The author examined the underlying factors of the Association of Multicultural Counseling and Development's (AMCD) Multicultural Competencies. One hundred fifty‐one professional counselors who are members of the American Counseling Association responded to a survey that included items reflecting AMCD's multicultural competencies and Explanatory Statements. An exploratory factor analysis revealed 5 multicultural competencies factors: Awareness, Knowledge, Definitions of Terms, Racial Identity Development, and Skills.

Illustrations of the effects of rheumatic gout or chronic rheumatic arthritis on all the articulations with descriptive and explanatory statements. 1857.

Illustrations of the effects of rheumatic gout or chronic rheumatic arthritis on all the articulations with descriptive and explanatory statements. 1857.