Explicit Clarification Research Articles

Financial safety net and market discipline—evidence from negotiable certificates of deposit in China

ABSTRACT This paper integrates two crucial aspects of the financial safety net into a unified framework: explicit clarification of insurance coverage and a no-bailout event in China. Employing the Difference-in-Difference (DID) methodology, we illustrate that both events exert a more pronounced reinforcing effect on the market discipline of regional banks compared to national counterparts. Further investigation unveils that deposit insurance imposes a broader impact on regional banks than the no-bailout event. Additionally, both events exert a more lasting effect on market discipline compared to market-level shocks that are unrelated to implicit guarantees or merely represent a transient enhancement of financial support.

Looking from the Outside In: Considerations for External Assessment

Grant projects. Program review. Accreditation. All of these may involve the use of external reviewers to provide consultation and objective evaluation. Working with external visitors, or serving in this capacity, can be a complicated process to navigate. While external review strategies have clear advantages, they also present distinct challenges to the external reviewers and those internal to the project. Staff in departments undergoing review may experience anxiety and wonder how to maximize chances for success. Using Bolman and Deal's (2017) four-frame model of perspectives on organizations, the authors offer considerations for student affairs professionals engaging in the external review process for both external reviewers and internal parties. These considerations include encouraging individuals to be thoughtful about campus culture, logistics, access to information, effective working relationships, and explicit clarification of the nature and purpose of the task(s). Ultimately, these considerations focus on ways to make the external review process positive and effective.

Comparison of Weighted/Unweighted and Interpolated Grid Data at Regional and Global Scales

Uniform grid data are widely used in climate science and related interdisciplinary fields. Such data usually describe the hydrometeorological states averaged over uniform latitude–longitude grids. While these data have larger grid areas in the tropics than other high-latitude regions, less attention has been paid to the areal weights of these grid data. Here, we revisited two methods available for processing these uniform grid data, including weighted sample statistics and grid interpolation. The former directly considers the grid area differences using geodetic weights; the latter converts the uniform grids to equal-area grids for conventional data analysis. When applied to global temperature and precipitation data, we found larger differences between weighted and unweighted samples and smaller differences between weighted and interpolated samples, highlighting the importance of areal weights in grid data analysis. Given the different results from various methods, we call for explicit clarification of the grid data processing methods to improve reproducibility in climate research.

Values in evolutionary biology: a comparison between the contemporary debate on organic progress and Canguilhem’s biological philosophy

The aim of this paper is to make a comparison and build up a dialogue between two different philosophical approaches to values in evolutionary biology. First, I present the approach proposed by Alexander Rosenberg and Daniel McShea in their contribution to the contemporary debate on organic progress. i.e. the idea that there has been some kind of improvement concerning organisms over the history of life. Discussing organic progress raises the question of what “better” exactly means. This requires an explicit clarification on what legitimately means to speak about “good” in evolutionary biology, thus to speak about values. Second, I move on to present an approach to values that has been proposed by Georges Canguilhem in the context of a different philosophical tradition (i.e. the “continental” tradition). Canguilhem’s original theses are conceived in a Darwinian framework and clearly relate to the question of values in evolutionary biology. I shall then propose a comparison between these two heterogeneous perspectives on values by critically evaluating their common points and main differences. I will argue that both perspectives agree that the question of values in evolutionary biology takes on its full meaning with respect to the relationship between the organism and the environment. However, the framework for conceptualizing values in evolutionary biology provided by Rosenberg and McShea neglects a significant point highlighted by Canguilhem, i.e. the active role that the organism can play in evaluating the environment. In line with recent developments of biology (e.g. niche construction), this point can be easily integrated into Rosenberg and McShea’s framework. Finally, I will point out some main differences between the two perspectives relative to the specificity of Canguilhem’s biological philosophy.

Probing into Non-native Learners’ Written Accuracy: Does Feedback Type Matter?

Corrective feedback (CF) has long been a hot topic in language education circles and has received extensive research attention. However, there is still controversy over the effectiveness of CF use and error correction in language classes. To address this discrepancy, the current study probed the effectiveness of different CF types in improving grammatical accuracy in writing. We recruited 74 female English as a foreign language students within the age range of 16–21 at an intermediate proficiency level and divided them into four treatment groups and one control group. Four feedback types were used in the treatment, namely explicit correction, clarification request, metalinguistic, and elicitation. The experimental groups’ grammatical knowledge of target structures (tense, voice, and agreement) was assessed before and after CF treatments and was compared with that of the control group. The findings revealed that all feedback groups outperformed the control group, highlighting the effectiveness of CF treatment. In addition, the metalinguistic feedback group outperformed all other experimental groups, with no difference observed between elicitation and clarification request groups. Further findings and implications are discussed in the paper.

What's the Big IDEA? A Preliminary Analysis of Behavior Analysts' Self-Reported Training in and Knowledge of Federal Special Education Law.

Many behavior analysts currently work in school settings or with individuals who may qualify for educational services through federal special education law. However, it remains unclear what training, if any, behavior analysts receive in this law. Behavior analysts have an ethical responsibility to practice within their scope of competency and in compliance with legal regulations. Thus, it is important to determine whether behavior analysts practicing in the United States are adequately prepared and familiar with federal special education law. The current study consisted of a survey wherein respondents answered questions pertaining to the relevance of federal special education law, their familiarity with core terminology, and the alignment between the law and the Professional and Ethical Compliance Code for Behavior Analysts (Behavior Analyst Certification Board, 2016). Respondents' self-report indicates that behavior analysts hold conflicting views on how federal special education law aligns with and influences their role as service providers. As such, practitioners and agencies alike may benefit from explicit clarification of the responsibility Board Certified Behavior Analysts have to seek training in and adhere to federal special education law.

Preeminent Development Boards to Design Sustainable Integrated Model of a Smart Healthcare System under IoT

Conventional healthcare systems were just passive with the approach of smart healthcare services. Smart healthcare has been tended to consequently decrease the death and casualty rates the world over. The gratefulness lies in the court of the Internet and ICTs. IoT (Internet of Things) helps healthcare administrations by providing dynamic, inescapable, and intellectual services. Due to deal with medical issues and various unexpected diseases, a suitable, incorporated, smart, well-groomed, modern, and sustainable healthcare monitoring with wellness service deliverance arrangement is required under the IoT platform. A variety of development-boards have been created and are currently being utilized in the field of healthcare. These IoT based development boards reduce endeavors, cost, and time in a feasible way. Patients care better in IoT based integrated healthcare services system. Several companies have made-up these development-boards and these are being used by several organizations to fulfill the requirement of healthcare services for many purposes. This review paper provides an insight on aspects, dimensions, a prototype of sustainable integrated smart healthcare architecture with explicit clarification of significant development boards to design and implement a sustainable smart healthcare system that empowers strong connectivity among numerous devices and human beings in the recent digital era.

Differentiation of ectomycorrhizal morphology in Abies faxoniana along an elevation gradient in a subalpine forest of western Sichuan Province, China

Ectomycorrhizal fungi are an important group of symbiotic fungi beneficial to plant growth and their environmental adaptation. An explicit clarification of the trait of ectomycorrhizal fungi would facilitate our understanding of plant responses to environmental change. We set up sampling plots at five elevations (2850, 3000, 3194, 3413, 3593 m) in the Balong Mountain within the Wolong Nature Reserve of Sichuan Province, and collected cubic soil samples (10 cm×10 cm×10 cm) from those plots by point centered quarter method. Based on examination of the morphological types and diversity of ectomycorrhizal roots of Abies faxoniana in each soil sample, we examined the variations in morphological traits of ectomycorrhizal roots of A. faxoniana along the elevational gra-dient and the effects of soil environmental factors. Results showed that: 1) The major ectomycorrhizae of A. faxoniana in Wolong Nature Reserve was orange or yellow in color, with smooth mantle and no or few extensional hyphae, and cylindric or inflated root tips. This type of ectomycorrhizae occurred with highest rate of colonization (12.4%) in the study area. 2) With the increases of elevation, the morphological diversity of ectomycorrhizae in A. faxoniana declined and the morphological types per cubic soil sample significantly decreased. 3) There were significant differences between the ectomycorrhizae of contact exploration type (CE) and short distance exploration type (SDE) at different elevations, while the colonization rate of CE increased significantly with elevation. 4) Soil factors drove the variations of ectomycorrhizal morphology in A. faxoniana along the elevational gradient. Redundancy analysis (RDA) showed that soil total nitrogen (TN), soil temperature (Ts), soil water content (SWC), pH, soil acid phosphatase (ACP) and soil total phosphorus (TP) had significant effects on ectomycorrhizal morphology in A. faxoniana, among which TN and Ts being the greatest and explaining 5.4% and 4.9% of the total variations. Our results clari-fied the variations in the occurrence of ectomycorrhizal morphology in A. faxoniana along elevational gradient, which provided scientific evidence for further studying the mechanisms underlying the responses to environmental changes in mycorrhizal strategy in coniferous species of subalpine forests.

Does the Addition of Explicit Clarification of Auditor Independence Statement to the Auditor’s Report Matter to Equity Analysts?

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) adopted a new auditing standard to enhance the relevance and usefulness of the auditor’s report. One of the changes introduced in the new reporting model is the addition of a statement that explicitly clarifies the auditor’s independence (AS 3101.09.g). We administer a survey to investigate whether explicitly clarifying the auditor’s independence in the auditor’s report affects equity analysts’ perceptions of auditor independence, perceptions of financial reporting reliability, and their judgment when it comes to making stock recommendations to clients. A total of 123 equity analysts are recruited via Qualtrics for the study. The findings of the survey provide evidence that corroborates the position of the PCAOB that explicit clarification of auditor independence provides relevant information useful to public users such as equity analysts. Our study is the first to evaluate equity analysts’ perceptions about auditor independence using the new PCAOB auditor reporting model regarding the explicit clarification of auditor independence in the auditor’s report. Our study contributes to research, practice, and policy.

Oral Corrective Feedback: Exploring The Relationship Between Teacher’s Strategy and Student's Willingness to Communicate

Corrective feedback has become a big issue in second language acquisition. Its effectiveness when implemented in the class is still the subject of debate. Moreover, its impact on second language learners’ performance is also a topic of discussion. Recently, there has been a growing interest in the role of corrective feedback as a research topic in EFL context. Most researches showed that corrective feedback has a positive effect on EFL learners. Although there has been a growing research concern on the effectiveness of oral corrective feedback, its impact and its application in EFL classroom setting, limited studies examined the relationship between teachers’ corrective feedback and students’ willingness to communicate. Therefore, this case study explores how oral corrective feedback is implemented in the class and its effect on the students’ willingness to communicate. For this purpose, interviews and observations were used to collect data from a teacher and tenth grade students of senior high school in the academic year 2016/2017. The findings showed that there are three types of oral corrective feedback found in the class: explicit correction feedback, metalinguistic feedback, and clarification request feedback. Moreover, the students frequently make phonological errors and semantic errors while speaking. In regard to the students’ uptake, acknowledgement, repetition, off-target, and peer-repair are mostly found from the teacher and students interaction. The students also insist that the teacher’s oral corrective feedback does not disturb teacher and students classroom interaction.

The Effects of an Explicit Clarification of Auditor Independence on Equity Analysts’ Confidence in Financial Reporting and Stock Recommendations

The Effects of an Explicit Clarification of Auditor Independence on Equity Analysts’ Confidence in Financial Reporting and Stock Recommendations

Association between Do Not Resuscitate/Do Not Intubate Status and Resident Physician Decision-making. A National Survey.

Compared with their Full Code counterparts, patients with do not resuscitate/do not intubate (DNR/DNI) status receive fewer interventions and have higher mortality than predicted by clinical characteristics. To assess whether internal medicine residents, the front-line providers for many hospitalized patients, would manage hypothetical patients differently based on code status. We hypothesized respondents would be less likely to provide a variety of interventions to DNR/DNI patients than to Full Code patients. Cross-sectional, randomized survey of U.S. internal medicine residents. We created two versions of an internet survey, each containing four clinical vignettes followed by questions regarding possible interventions; the versions were identical except for varying code status of the vignettes. Residency programs were randomly allocated between the two versions. Five hundred thirty-three residents responded to the survey. As determined by Chi-squared and Fisher's exact test, decisions to intubate or perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation were largely dictated by patient code status (>94% if Full Code, <5% if DNR/DNI; P < 0.0001 for all scenarios). Resident proclivity to deliver noninvasive interventions (e.g., blood cultures, medications, imaging) was uniformly high (>90%) and unaffected by code status. However, decisions to pursue other aggressive or invasive options (e.g., dialysis, bronchoscopy, surgical consultation, transfer to intensive care unit) differed significantly based on code status in most vignettes. Residents appear to assume that patients who would refuse cardiopulmonary resuscitation would prefer not to receive other interventions. Without explicit clarification of the patient's goals of care, potentially beneficial care may be withheld against the patient's wishes.

Merleau-Ponty's Conception of Dialectics in Phenomenology of Perception

Although the fact that Merleau-Ponty has a dialectical approach in Phenomenology of Perception has been discussed in recent Anglophone readings, there has not been an explicit clarification as to how his varying usages of the term hang together. Given his repeated references to Hegel and to dialectics, coupled with the fact that dialectics are not part of the Husserlian phenomenology or Heideggerean existentialism from which Merleau-Ponty draws so much, the question of just what he does with the idea of dialectics presents itself. In this paper I argue that, in Phenomenology of Perception, Merleau-Ponty saw Hegel as providing a model for the conception of rationality and meaning that must underpin the existentialist response to the problems bequeathed him by Husserlian phenomenology: namely, the problems of embodiment, perception and the constitution of the world. In connection with this, I suggest an interpretation of Merleau-Ponty's “existential dialectics” that focuses on his three principal uses of the term: 1) a “dialectic of objective thought,” 2) a set of existential-dialectical categories intended to capture the ontological structure of the “body-subject” as “being-in-the-world,” and 3) a dialectic at the cultural level concerning others and history.

Dynamically adapted context-specific hyper-articulation: Feedback from interlocutors affects speakers' subsequent pronunciations.

We ask whether speakers can adapt their productions when feedback from their interlocutors suggests that previous productions were perceptually confusable. To address this question, we use a novel web-based task-oriented paradigm for speech recording, in which participants produce instructions towards a (simulated) partner with naturalistic response times. We manipulate (1) whether a target word with a voiceless plosive (e.g., pill) occurs in the presence of a voiced competitor (bill) or an unrelated word (food) and (2) whether or not the simulated partner occasionally misunderstands the target word. Speakers hyper-articulated the target word when a voiced competitor was present. Moreover, the size of the hyper-articulation effect was nearly doubled when partners occasionally misunderstood the instruction. A novel type of distributional analysis further suggests that hyper-articulation did not change the target of production, but rather reduced the probability of perceptually ambiguous or confusable productions. These results were obtained in the absence of explicit clarification requests, and persisted across words and over trials. Our findings suggest that speakers adapt their pronunciations based on the perceived communicative success of their previous productions in the current environment. We discuss why speakers make adaptive changes to their speech and what mechanisms might underlie speakers' ability to do so.

Preventive health measures in inflammatory bowel disease.

We aim to review the literature and provide guidance on preventive health measures in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Structured searches were performed in PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science and Cochrane Library from January 1976 to June 2016 using the following keywords: (inflammatory bowel disease OR Crohn’s disease OR ulcerative colitis) AND (health maintenance OR preventive health OR health promotion). s of the articles selected from each of these multiple searches were reviewed, and those meeting the inclusion criteria (that is, providing data regarding preventive health or health maintenance in IBD patients) were recorded. Reference lists from the selected articles were manually reviewed to identify further relevant studies. Patients with IBD are at increased risk of developing adverse events related to the disease course, therapeutic interventions, or non-adherence to medication. Recent studies have suggested that IBD patients do not receive preventive services with the same thoroughness as patients with other chronic diseases. Preventive health measures can avert morbidity and improve the quality of life of patients with IBD. Gastroenterologists and primary care physicians (PCPs) should have an up to date working knowledge of preventive health measures for IBD patients. A holistic approach and better communication between gastroenterologists and PCPs with explicit clarification of roles will prevent duplication of services and streamline care.

Subjective and objective outcomes in randomized clinical trials: definitions differed in methods publications and were often absent from trial reports

ObjectivesThe degree of bias in randomized clinical trials varies depending on whether the outcome is subjective or objective. Assessment of the risk of bias in a clinical trial will therefore often involve categorization of the type of outcome. Our primary aim was to examine how the concepts “subjective outcome” and “objective outcome” are defined in methodological publications and clinical trial reports. To put this examination into perspective, we also provide an overview of how outcomes are classified more broadly. Study Design and SettingA systematic review of methodological publications providing a classification of clinical trial outcomes and a descriptive study of how outcomes were classified in 200 PubMed indexed clinical trial reports published in 2012. ResultsWe identified 90 methodological publications with some form of a classification of outcomes. Three distinct definitions were provided for subjective outcome: (1) dependent on assessor judgment, (2) patient-reported outcome, or (3) private phenomena (ie, phenomena only assessable by the patient). Of the 200 clinical trial reports, 12 used the term “subjective” and/or “objective” about outcomes, but no clinical trial reports explicitly defined the terms. ConclusionThe terms “subjective” and “objective” are ambiguous when used to describe outcomes in randomized clinical trials. We suggest that the terms should be defined explicitly when used in connection with the assessment of risk of bias in a clinical trial, in metaepidemiological research, and generally in the reporting of clinical trials. We also suggest that adding an explicit clarification of the terms in future versions of the Cochrane Handbook might further strengthen its important role in guiding review authors.

Einbindung von Patientenvertretern in Leitlinienentwicklungsprozesse: Eine qualitative Studie

The involvement of patient representatives in the development process of clinical practice guidelines is accepted as an international standard. However, there is no consensus on the optimal methods to be used. We explored how patient advocates experienced their role while being actively involved in guideline development. From November 2012 to January 2013 problem-centred interviews were conducted with eleven patient representatives from Germany who were involved in evidence-based guideline development. The interviews were analysed using the methods of Grounded Theory. Three main categories were derived which patient representatives perceived as the most important prerequisites for active participation in guideline development groups: knowledge, endorsement and adopting the role. Knowledge combined with an explicit clarification of the role of the patient representative seems to have a positive impact on the adoption of the specific role in a guideline developing group. Our study indicates how active involvement of patient representatives in guideline development processes can be optimised. Initially, the role of the patient representative should be explicitly clarified; and courses offering methodological support should be provided. The informative value of the study is limited by the small number of interviews. Therefore, further studies are needed.

Towards Estimating Urban Population Distributions from Mobile Call Data

Today, large-volume mobile phone call datasets are widely applied to investigate the spatio-temporal characteristics of human urban activity. This paper discusses several fundamental issues in estimating population distributions based on mobile call data. By adopting an individual-based call activity dataset that consists of nearly two million mobile subscribers who made over one hundred million communications over seven consecutive days, we explore the relationships among the Erlang values, the number of calls, and the number of active mobile subscribers. Then, the LandScan population density dataset is introduced to evaluate the process of estimating the population. The empirical findings indicate that: (1) Temporal variation exists in the relation between the Erlang values and the number of calls; (2) The number of calls is linearly proportional to the number of active mobile subscribers; (3) The proportion between the mobile subscribers and the actual total population varies in different areas, thus failing to represent the underlying population. Hence, the call activity reflects “activity intensity” rather than population distribution. The Erlang is a defective indicator of population distribution, whereas the number of calls serves as a better measure. This research provides an explicit clarification with respect to using call activity data for estimating population distribution.

Consultation in palliative care: The relevance of clarification of problems

This study aims to determine the extent and nature of problems in palliative care that are newly identified in the consultation process and the factors influencing their identification. The consultation process includes clarification of problems mentioned by professionals requesting advice. Data are derived from the standard registration forms of Palliative Care Consultation teams. Multilevel logistic regression analysis was carried out with newly identified problem as dependent variable. Fifty seven percent of problems ( n = 7854) were newly identified. Most newly identified problems were related to physical and pharmacological problems. If psychosocial/spiritual problems were identified, this occurred in most cases through clarification (70%). Newly identified problems were more likely to be identified in the domain of spiritual and psychosocial problems, in bedside consultations, in requests from clinical physicians, and for patients accommodated in a hospice or hospital. Explicit clarification of problems facilitates the identification and addressing of a more comprehensive and specific scope of problems.

Extreme Decreasing of Ozone Product Using High Purity Oxygen

While silent discharge ozonizer feeding high-grade pure oxygen is operated for many hours, the ozone concentration decreases remarkably with time. In the extreme case, the ozone concentration comes down to almost zero. Therefore, we call this “ozone zero phenomenon. The phenomenon was first discovered in about 1990 and various examinations were performed by many researchers. However, the explicit clarification has not yet been found. In order to clarify the mechanism of this phenomenon, the authors developed an ozone production system which consists of two ozonizers connected with cascade in the same direction with the flowing gas. With feeding the pure oxygen, ozone produced by the primary ozonizer was provided into the secondary ozonizer that causes the ozone zero phenomenon and both ozonizers were driven sequentially to observe the each response of the ozone concentration. Moreover, the same investigations were conducted by adding NOx and Ar from an external gas inlet attached between the primary and secondary ozonizers. It is found that the ozone zero phenomenon disappears and ozone concentration is recovered by adding NOx without electrical discharge. Therefore, the phenomenon is considered by decompositions of ozone produced at wall surface.