Final Question Research Articles

Copy-Editing Expectations of Authors from the Middle East

The study investigates how specific edits, the selection of copy editors, connection platforms, and authors’ priorities affect Middle Eastern authors’ satisfaction and expectations. It also addresses whether these authors can expect non-linguistic modifications from native English copy editors. The final survey consisted of thirty-seven closed-ended questions and one open-ended question, grouped into five main sections, excluding demographics and the final open-ended question. We received 220 responses. The analysis was conducted using SmartPLS. We found that simple copy-editing did not significantly impact author satisfaction but that advanced copy-editing, choosing a copy editor, and using a particular connection platform positively impacted author satisfaction. Furthermore, authors expected more than the mere correction of grammatical errors by copy editors. The study recommends that copy-editing agencies should develop more personal relationships with authors, offer advanced copy-editing, and consider using a particular connection platform to meet the Middle Eastern authors’ needs.

Development of Local Instructional Theory on Parallelogram Topics Based on RME to Improve Mathematical Problem-Solving Skills

The purpose of this research is to develop a local instructional theory on parallelogram material and examine the improvement of students' mathematical problem-solving skills by using local instructional theory. This research uses the Design Research method, which uses the Gravemeijer and Cobb development model and the Plomp model. The Plomp development model has three stages, namely, preliminary research, prototyping phase, and assessment phase. The research subjects were seventh-grade students of MTs N 5 Jambi City. Data analysis techniques in this study used Quantitative data were obtained through questionnaires, while qualitative data were obtained through observations, interviews, field notes, and final test questions. The results of this study indicate that the local instructional theory on the topic of RME-based parallelogram in class VII is valid. The learning design met the practical criteria based on the results of the questionnaires and interviews. Based on the final test conducted shows that the local instructional theory is already in the effective category. So, the learning flow produced is valid, practical and effective. The implication of this research is that the development of local instructional theory on RME-based quadrilateral material can significantly improve students' mathematical problem solving ability. This shows that through the right approach in learning design, as implemented in this study, the problem solving ability problems that students often experience can be overcome. Thus, this approach has the potential to be widely applied in improving the effectiveness of mathematics learning in schools.

The dark side of artificial intelligence in services

ABSTRACT Artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives, including Generative AI, are being increasingly implemented in service industries, and are having a great impact on service operations and on customers’ reactions and behaviors. Previous literature is overoptimistic about AI implementation, and there is still a need to explore the dark side of this technology; that is, its potential negative impacts on consumers, businesses, and society, as well as the moral concerns associated with AI use in services. To establish some fundamental insights related to this research domain, this paper contributes to previous AI based-services literature by proposing a three-part conceptual model inspired by Belanche et al. (2020a), comprised of AI design, customers, and the service encounter. Specifically, we identify key factors and research gaps within each category that need to be addressed. The final research questions provide a research agenda to guide scholars and help practitioners implement AI-based services while avoiding their potential negative outcomes.

Inflammation—A Possible Link between Myocarditis and Arrhythmogenic Cardiomyopathy

Arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy is a primary genetic disease caused by mutations in the desmosome genes. Ever since the introduction of new imaging techniques, like cardiovascular magnetic resonance, the diagnosis of arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy has become more challenging as left ventricular or biventricular variants may have resemblance to other cardiomyopathies or myocarditis. Not only this but they may also share an acute phase, which might cause even more confusion and misdiagnoses and influence the prognosis and outcome. In this case report, we present a 31-year-old patient with multiple clinical pictures: his symptoms were acute chest pain, new onset of heart failure and arrhythmia symptoms, which determined a dynamic change in clinical diagnosis and management, ultimately taking into consideration arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy. Through the article, we try to uncover and explain common pathophysiological pathways shared by arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy and other clinical entities with a special focus on inflammation. The final question remains: “If there is more than one heart disorder that eventually leads to the same clinical image, one may wonder, is arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy a syndrome rather than a specific condition?”.

Exploring Community-Based Strategies to Overcome Barriers to Hypertension Education and Management in Underserved Areas

Objective:In the United States, there are over 119.9 million adults who have been diagnosed with hypertension, representing nearly half of the adult population. Of this population with high blood pressure, 75% of Americans’ hypertension remains uncontrolled. Such control rates are significantly lower among individuals of racial and ethnic minorities as compared to their white counterparts, especially those in underserved areas. We hypothesize that the identification of community-based interventions and strategies to combat barriers to hypertension treatment and education could improve management in these populations.
 Project Methods:In this study, we looked through various peer reviewed articles on community-based care and hypertension rates among minorities, exploring study design and limitations to develop a questionnaire focused on access to hypertension education. This survey was distributed randomly during outreach events around Muncie, Indiana to anyone who wished to participate, non-minority groups included. The questionnaire asked about various hypertension and healthcare barrier identification factors with a final question of whether said participant would benefit from a hypertension education course.
 Results:The participants’ responses were across the board. Regarding hypertension knowledge, participants were asked about their diagnosis, as well as their level of knowledge of hypertension and its management; participants exhibited varying levels of knowledge. Understanding key aspects of management, including medication adherence, diet, physical activity, and potential complications and warning signs, also varied among participants. Overall, these preliminary survey results highlight the diverse characteristics and experiences of participants related to hypertension, access to healthcare, and hypertension knowledge.
 Potential Impact:This study could provide information for those looking to establish community-based organizations in underserved areas. Increasing the magnitude of such teams and advocating for more interventions against barriers to hypertension education could increase not only the health of those in such communities, but also the overall wellbeing of all people in the United States.

Pharmacology of Sedating and Anesthetic Agents: A Case-Based Flipped Classroom Exercise for Preclinical Medical Students.

Sedating and anesthetic drugs are widely used in clinical practice; however, relevant teaching remains underrepresented in undergraduate medical education. We developed a 2-hour flipped classroom activity integrating foundational science topics, evidence-based medicine, and clinical reasoning on anesthetic pharmacology for preclinical medical students. Presession, second-year medical students reviewed a study guide and completed a readiness assessment. The flipped classroom session was facilitated in a large-group format with learners in small groups. At session end, students completed a consolidation quiz. Two case-relevant questions were included on the midterm and one on the final exam. Student satisfaction was assessed through an anonymous postsession survey. One hundred ten students participated in the session. Mean performance on the readiness assessment was 96%. Mean performance on the postsession quiz was also 96%. Mean performance on the three midterm and final exam questions was higher than the national mean (94% vs.72%, p < .005). Seventy-six students (69%) completed the survey, with mean satisfaction of 4.6 (SD = 0.7) on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree). We developed a flipped classroom session teaching pharmacology of sedating and anesthetic drugs for preclinical medical students. Students performed well on pre- and postsession assessments and above the national mean on National Board of Medical Examiners questions, suggesting adequate knowledge acquisition. This session was found to be a highly satisfactory and effective teaching tool requiring students to integrate foundational and clinical science knowledge.

Pediatric resident use, perceptions, and desires for improvement of a clinical secure messaging application

BackgroundHospitals are transitioning away from traditional pagers to secure text messaging (STM) applications. STM is perceived to improve efficiency and accessibility. There is limited research on user's impressions of how STM impacts patient safety, provider wellness, and quality of patient care. ObjectivesTo understand the use and perceptions of a clinical STM by pediatric residents at a free-standing quaternary care children's hospital. MethodsA survey was conducted of pediatric residents regarding their experience with Diagnotes®. Demographic data were obtained along with use patterns, ability to perform tasks, and perceptions of intended purpose. Further questions evaluated agreement with communication strategies and satisfaction with features. Three open-ended questions asked about experience where STM impacted (1) patient care coordination and (2) patient safety. A final question asked for any additional STM feedback. ResultsOf 169 surveys, there were 112 respondents (66.3 % response rate). Respondents unanimously endorsed daily STM use on their personal mobile devices with good knowledge of basic features. Respondents were overall satisfied with Diagnotes® (73.9 %) including the ability to communicate efficiently (84.8 %) and effectively (79.5 %). Yet only 32.1 % were satisfied with Diagnotes® training. Only 59.5 % believed Diagnotes® was appropriate for urgent patient care needs and only 43.2 % believed its purpose was to inform the team of patient emergencies. Key qualitative themes included improved coordination of patient care tasks through STM, but there were concerns raised around sending and receiving messages, the additional cognitive burden placed by STM, and differences in culture of use that created conflict. ConclusionsDiagnotes® is viewed positively including use for effective coordination of patient care and familiarity of functions of Diagnotes®. Barriers included unclear interprofessional expectations for use. Future research should incorporate a broad range of healthcare professionals' perceptions and co-creation of STM best practice guidelines for use, including around urgent or emergent patient care issues.

Quality of Communication Between Professors and University Students in the Process of Learning.

Teaching requires the incorporation of communication skills, and these potentials may affect the outcomes of the learning process. This study evaluated the quality of communication between professors and students during the process of learning Dentistry. A questionnaire was developed and applied to evaluate their perceptions about their communications in an undergraduate Dentistry course. The questionnaire had ten items to analyze professors' self-perception and ten for students' perceptions, using a Likert-like scale and a final open question. During its construction, it was sent to five specialists to analyze content validity. The open question gathered suggestions to improve and intensify communications effectively and to identify vulnerabilities. Total scores ranged from 10 to 50, with 10 as the worst perception, and 50, as the best. The scores were calculated by adding all answers and then dividing that sum by the total number of items. Cronbach's alpha was calculated to evaluate the instrument's internal consistency. The level of significance was set at 0.05%. The Student t-test was used to determine differences between groups. Professors' self-perceptions and students' perceptions of the quality of communication of the university teaching staff during the student's learning process had statistically significant differences. Professors classified their ability to communicate when emitting and receiving information as satisfactory. Students, however, did not fully agree with them, particularly on the items about receiving information. The perceptions identified in this study may lead to a new direction in the communicative behavior of professors and students.

ChatGPT-3.5 passes Poland's medical final examination-Is it possible for ChatGPT to become a doctor in Poland?

ChatGPT is an advanced chatbot based on Large Language Model that has the ability to answer questions. Undoubtedly, ChatGPT is capable of transforming communication, education, and customer support; however, can it play the role of a doctor? In Poland, prior to obtaining a medical diploma, candidates must successfully pass the Medical Final Examination. The purpose of this research was to determine how well ChatGPT performed on the Polish Medical Final Examination, which passing is required to become a doctor in Poland (an exam is considered passed if at least 56% of the tasks are answered correctly). A total of 2138 categorized Medical Final Examination questions (from 11 examination sessions held between 2013-2015 and 2021-2023) were presented to ChatGPT-3.5 from 19 to 26 May 2023. For further analysis, the questions were divided into quintiles based on difficulty and duration, as well as question types (simple A-type or complex K-type). The answers provided by ChatGPT were compared to the official answer key, reviewed for any changes resulting from the advancement of medical knowledge. ChatGPT correctly answered 53.4%-64.9% of questions. In 8 out of 11 exam sessions, ChatGPT achieved the scores required to successfully pass the examination (60%). The correlation between the efficacy of artificial intelligence and the level of complexity, difficulty, and length of a question was found to be negative. AI outperformed humans in one category: psychiatry (77.18% vs. 70.25%, p = 0.081). The performance of artificial intelligence is deemed satisfactory; however, it is observed to be markedly inferior to that of human graduates in the majority of instances. Despite its potential utility in many medical areas, ChatGPT is constrained by its inherent limitations that prevent it from entirely supplanting human expertise and knowledge.

COMMUNICATION ASPECTS OF SPORT IN THE CONTEXT OF SAMBO: BASICS OF ATHLETE RECRUITMENT AND DYNAMICS OF THE FEDERATION’S COMMUNICATION DEVELOPMENT

Sambo is a martial art whose popularity is growing every year. Therefore, it is important to encourage and recruit potential sambo players for the further development of the sport. A prerequisite is the establishment of communication links to improve existing communication strategies implemented by sambo federations. This is the reason for the relevance of the study, in order to improve the recruitment of athletes and thereby contribute to bringing sambo to a new level using the research findings and recommendations. That is why, in view of all the above, the purpose of this research is to analyse the communication aspect of sambo, identify the main aspects of athlete recruitment and a detailed analysis of the factors that influence the effectiveness of current communication strategies for recruitment; characterise the dynamics of communication of federations and identify successful communication practices; identify the features of the correlation between effective communication and the success of recruitment processes. It is also important to analyse the potential impact of improved communication on the growth and development of sambo. The final question is to provide practical suggestions for improving communication during the recruitment of athletes based on the findings. To achieve this purpose, a number of scientific methods were used, including the general philosophical method, methods of system analysis and synthesis, the method of deduction and induction, and the dialectical method. As a result, we have obtained scientifically significant conclusions and developed practical recommendations for improving communication skills in terms of implementing effective strategies and recruiting.

Analytical Review of Final Examination Questions for Fifth Grade at SDN 03 East Pontianak

This study aims to evaluate the validity, reliability, level of difficulty, differentiating power, and effectiveness of checkers on the final test of the odd semester of PABP subject in class V SDN 03 East Pontianak in the 2023/2024 academic year. Using a quantitative approach, this study analysed data using IBM SPSS Statistics 23. This study involved 30 class V students as participants. The results of the analysis of 30 multiple choice items showed that 73% were valid and 27% were invalid. From the reliability aspect, it was found that the reliability level of the items was high, namely the r coefficient of 0.899. From the aspect of difficulty level, it was found that about 13% of the items were difficult, about 73% of the items were moderate and 13% of the items were easy. From the aspect of differential power, it was found that about 39% of items were good, about 42% of items were sufficient, about 19% of items were not good. And from the aspect of eliminators, it was found that about 89% were accepted, about 8% were revised and about 3% were rejected.

Validity of Test: English Lecturers perceptions of Test Validity in Intensive Reading Course' Final Exam at Universitas Prima Indonesia in academic year 2022/2023

This study was inspired from the researcher’ effort in order to enrich knowledge related to language testing’ component, one of component is validity and also curiosity to investigate the validity of Intensive Reading Final Test given by English lecturers in University of Prima Indonesia (UNPRI) in academic year 2022/2023. The research addresses two key questions: the lecturers’ perception of test validity in Intensive Reading Final Test in English Education Study Program of Teacher Training and Education Faculty of Universitas Prima Indonesia (UNPRI) and the reason of English lecturers in English Education Study Program of Teacher Training and Education Faculty of Universitas Prima Indonesia (UNPRI) Medan have such perceptions. This study applies qualitative research design in which involving 10 English lecturers at University of Prima Indonesia (UNPRI) as the respondents of this research, analyzing the perception of English lecturers related to validity of test in Intensive Reading Subject Final Exam. Findings shows that lecturers show their positive response to test validity with the information as follows: ALWAYS carry out an analysis of the question items before carrying out the Final Test” is in the percentage of 80%, “FREQUENTLY carry out crosschecks between basic competencies and indicators determined in the questions” is in the percentage of 100 %, “ALWAYS (60 %) and FREQUENTLY (20%) Carry out reliability/consistency measurements (reliability)”, “ALWAYS (60%) Providing feedback on test results given to students. Lecturers take such action in preparing final semester exam questions for Intensive reading courses are: Analyzing test items is crucial in creating effective assessments, Feedback on tests is crucial for students' learning and development, crosschecking between indicators and test items to make sure that educational tests are valid and reliable, the reliability of question items critical for producing accurate, consistent, and trustworthy assessment results. It supports the meaningful interpretation of scores and allows for valid comparisons across individuals or groups. A way to make a high-test validity, it can be done in some ways such as compile the test grid before writing and selecting items to be tested, and making or selecting items on the test based on standard competence, basic competence, learning objectives that have been formulated in the syllabus

On the Problem of Dian Settlements

This article presents data on the search and study of settlement complexes of the Dian Kingdom in the areas around Lake Dianchi in the Yunnan Province. Several relatively large settlements were identified, with small satellite villages adjacent to them. Their inhabitants were used as a labour resource for growing grain, collecting freshwater shellfish, processing metals and other economic activities to serve the elite, which indicate the existence of a social hierarchy in the Dian Kingdom. However, the problem of finding political and cultural centres (capitals) remains, since powerful defensive structures, monumental religious and palace buildings, market areas, and craft districts have not yet been discovered in any of the studied settlements. The Hebosuo site, located only 750 m from the richest necropolis of Shizhaishan with the graves of the wang-rulers, is supposed to be the most likely capital centre, since seals’ clay impressions of major officials of the Dian state were found on its territory. Among the unique discoveries is a cemetery of ossuaries with infant burials, which seems to be a special section of the Shizhaishan necropolis. Another candidate for capital status is the Shangxihe site, also located just 1.5 km from the Shizhaishan necropolis. There, during preliminary excavations, 42 house foundations, several hundred utility pits, among other things, as well as a defensive ditch were discovered. Undoubtedly, this is quite a large urban-type settlement, but it also lacks the characteristics of a political and economic centre listed above. There is also no exact information about its planography and chronology. Therefore, the final question of the capital status of this or that settlement can only be resolved in the course of further large-scale excavations

AUTOMATIC EVALUATION OF QUALITY OF EXAMS' QUESTIONS WRITTEN IN ARABIC LANGUAGE BASED ON BLOOM’S TAXONOMY: A SURVEY

Most countries of the world are making great efforts in educational reform processes, and they have established quality departments, which have played a major role in the education reform process in first world countries and also in some developing countries, as it is one of the main pillars of the new management model to keep pace with international and local changes. The studies in the field of Blooms taxonomy in Arabic Language is very rare. However, there is a number of rich different studies conducted in English language using Bloom taxonomy classification of questions. The written exams questions are the most important tool in use among the evaluation tools that teachers use in universities or schools, and that importance increases when the results of those exams indicate that there is a shortage or lack of production, or that there are shortcomings or weaknesses in the production. Previous studies dealing with research on types of teachers’ Questions and mainly the analysis of final exam questions, classroom questions or textbook questions. Also there is a number of studies have applied Bloom’s taxonomy to automatic text classification in English language. The materials being classified, features and classifiers used in these studies are summarized below

대학생활적응 선별 조사도구(K-CLASS) 타당화 연구

Objectives Universities should not just deliver knowledge, and as higher education institutions, they are obliged to support their adaptation in various aspects, such as psychological and emotional independence of students, career preparation for the future, and improvement of expertise through study. Accordingly, universities should actively promote the improvement of related systems, program development, and operation based on the current status and analysis to support students' adaptation to college. From this point of view, this study aims to validate the scale and verify its reliability and validity based on a preliminary screening survey tool developed through prior research(Lee Hyeong-guk, 2022) to develop a Korean College Life Adaptation Screening Scale(K-CASS) that can be used in the actual university field.&#x0D; Methods Based on previous studies (Lee Hyeong-guk, 2022), which developed a preliminary survey scale by determining the measurement method, the final question, sub-scale determination, and validity of the development scale were developed through item analysis and exploratory factor analysis.&#x0D; Results As a result, a total of 70 questions were selected, including 12 academic adaptation subscales, 19 individual-emotional adaptation subscales, 16 socio-relational adaptation subscales, and 13 career adaptation subscales. In addition, statistically significant validity and reliability were confirmed.&#x0D; Conclusions Through the validation of the Korean University Life Adaptation Screening Scale(K-CASS) developed through this study, students can easily check their adaptation level and understand what help is needed, and it is expected to be used as a practical research tool.

Cortical synaptic basis of consciousness.

Consciousness is one of final questions for humans to tackle in neuroscience. Due to a lack of understanding of basic brain networks and mechanisms of functions, our knowledge of consciousness mainly stays at a theoretical level. Recent studies using brain imaging in humans and modern neuroscience techniques in animal studies reveal the basic brain network for consciousness. The projection from the thalamus to different cortical regions forms a network of activities to maintain consciousness in humans and animals. These feedback and feedforward circuits maintain consciousness even in certain brain injury conditions. Pterions and ion channels that contribute to these circuit neural activities are targets for drugs and manipulations that affect consciousness such as anesthetic agents. Synaptic plasticity that trains synapses during learning and information recall modified the circuits and contributes to a high level of consciousness in a certain population.

“Meet the patient” session: a strategy to teach medical students about autonomic dysfunction after spinal cord injury

Dysregulation of the autonomic nervous system is an important long-term consequence of spinal cord injury (SCI). Yet, there is a scarcity of teaching resources about this topic for preclinical medical students. Given the association of SCI sequelae with emergency complications and mortality, it is imperative to equip medical students with the ability to recognize them. We designed a “Meet the Patient” (MTP) session with the primary goal to enhance student learning about SCI sequelae by interacting with patients and listening to real-life stories. The session primarily focused on recognizing triggers and symptoms of autonomic dysreflexia (AD) and discussing the loss of bowel and bladder control, while providing opportunities to learn more about living with SCI from patients’ real-life experiences. During the MTP session, patients living with SCI discussed their experience with AD, neurogenic bowel and bladder, and spasticity, among other SCI sequelae. We evaluated the outcomes of the MTP session by assessing numerical performance in questions related to the session (post-session quiz and final exam) and students’ satisfaction (post-session survey) in two subsequent academic years. The numerical performance in SCI-questions was high for both academic years (and higher than national average for the final exam question), indicating adequate acquisition of knowledge. Satisfaction with the session was high, with most students indicating that the session helped them consolidate their knowledge about the topic.

ANALISIS DISTRAKTOR INSTRUMEN UJIAN AKHIR SEMESTER MATA PELAJARAN MATEMATIKA KELAS VII MTS SE-KECAMATAN KEDIRI DENGAN MENGGUNAKAN PROGRAM ITEMAN

One of the educational evaluation tools is a test with the aim of measuring the success of the learning activity process. When compiling tests/questions, they must be prepared in accordance with the rules for compiling them so that they will provide maximum information regarding the results of learning activities to obtain good tests both after and before use. Mathematics teachers at the KKM (Madrasah Working Group) have never carried out an analysis of the distractors for the final exam questions for the 2022/2023 academic year that they have prepared and used, so the quality of the questions is not yet known. The problem is how the quality of the questions is seen from the distractors in the multiple choice questions. Thus, this research aims to determine the distractors in the questions based on students' answers to 30 multiple choice questions with 4 alternative answers, namely (A, B, C and D) which were tested in class VII MTs at the KKM level in Kediri sub-district for the 2022 school year. /2023 with data and documentation of 369 students. This research is descriptive research, with quantitative and qualitative approaches. The results of the analysis with the Iteman program showed that there were 20 questions whose alternatives worked, namely questions 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 27 , 29, 30. The other alternative answer questions are classified as revised, namely 2, 5, 7, 11, 15, 16, 21, 25, 26, 28. So it can be concluded that the distractors of the 30 multiple choice questions are based on student answer documentation data as many as 369 students, it can be seen that 10 or 43% of the answer choices have not functioned well. Therefore, it is necessary to revise the questions qualitatively on the distractors to get good distractors/distractors.

Association between empathy levels in physicians and patient satisfaction scores in a cardiovascular clinic

Abstract Introduction A good doctor-patient relationship is crucial to medical practice. A fundamental element that drives this relationship is the empathy of the treating physician, which has also been validated as a predictor of clinical competence and patient results. Purpose We conducted an original study to correlate empathy values of our physicians and patient satisfaction surveys. In this subanalysis, we evaluated whether age, sex or time since qualifying as specialist had an impact on empathy values. Methods In our originaly study we sought to correlate the empathy values of our physicians in our cardiovascular clinic with the results of outpatient satisfaction surveys, measured with HCAPS, using a linear regression model. The Jefferson Empathy scale is a self reported 20 question survey, answered through a 1-7 Likert scale, with a maximum score of 140 points. It is further subclassified into 3 categories: "Perspective", "Care with compassion" and "Stepping into patient's shoes". The HCAPS survey is a patient satisfaction query, with 5 items that inquire as to the patient's perception of being treated with respect by the physician, the interest shown in their problems, the time dedicated to the consult, and the quality of the explanation of their chief concern and treatment options. It is anwered through a Likert scale from "Totally diasgree" to "Totally agree". There is also a final question that asks for a global impression. Results 65 doctors answered the Empathy survey, 30.8% of them women. Mean age was 48.8 years, and over half were under 50 years old. 81% had been practicing for over 5 years. 61671 HCAPS surveys were analyzed, corresponding to those 65 practitioners. Mean Empathy score was 120.7 (DS 11.1). We found that patients perceived greater respectful treatment (p=0.03) and had their treatment options better explained to them (p=0.02) by physicians with higher levels of empathy. The other HCAPS queries had a positive, though non statistically significant, relationship with Empathy scores. Doctors with higher scores in the subcategory "stepping into patient's shoes" had a significant increase in patient's perception of the interest shown in their concerns (p=0.01). There were no differences in physicians' empathy levels according to their age, gender, or time since qualifying as a specialist. Discussion These results validate empathy as a key skill in the doctor-patient relationship, and show that high levels of this personality attribute lead to better patient satisfaction results. Our results differ from other published work in that we found no difference in empathy levels according to gender or practice time, whereas most previous literature found that women and longer practice time were positively associated with empathy levels.

János Kornai on planning and disequilibrium: Theoretical dilemmas and solutions

AbstractJános Kornai has achieved a wide-scope multifaceted theoretical analysis moving from Marx to Walras-Lange, then to post-Keynesian disequilibrium economics, and eventually, to Hayek and economic institutionalism. Such a travel is not without meeting dilemmas that Kornai has had to struggle with and opt to resolve them in some way. Such process is illustrated first with a planner's dilemma. On the one hand, Kornai has elaborated on – together with Tamás Lipták – a mathematically ‘super’ solution to finding the optimal plan through a two-level planning procedure. But once implemented the latter has appeared to be too slow, and Kornai has rejected Lange's ideas for Hayek's criticism against central planning. A second dilemma is about how to analyse a centrally-planned shortage (excess demand) economy in which those industries privileged in the planners' pecking order priorities were producing an excess supply of (useless) goods. Kornai did not find a solution in the current disequilibrium economics but, instead, in a ‘lax’ communist bureaucracy generating a soft budget constraint. The third dilemma is that Kornai's views about disequilibria have not converged with the Post-Keynesian disequilibrium models. The latter were unable to conceive a simultaneous excess demand and excess supply in a same market, due to their so-called shorter-side rule. Instead, Kornai has found a solution that fits with theorising the observed micro (or even infra-micro) disequilibria in a Debreu's book, some years after having published a hard criticism of neo-classical microeconomics. A final question is raised: is Kornai's theory a decisive contribution to the analysis of comparative economic systems – that no one denies – or has he added some value to a more general theory of economic disequilibrium?