List Of Practices Research Articles

Pit, Spirit, Necromancer or Instrument Used in Necromancy? The Problem of Finding the Correct Meaning of the Hebrew Word אוב (’ôḇ)

Various meanings are attributed to the word אוֹב: pit, spirit, necromancer, instrument for divining the future with the help of the dead. Thus, in some cases, it is difficult to decide on the right word to translate it. This article attempts a diachronic analysis of biblical texts and, based on it, traces the potential semantic development from the original sense of “pit”, “instrument used in necromancy” (1 Sam 28:7–8), through the sense of “spirit of the dead” (Isa 8:19; 19:3; 29:4) to the post-exilic use in the sense of “necromancer/medium” (Lev 19:31; 20:6, 27). Deuteronomistic narratives (2 Kgs 21:6; 23:24) and the later list of forbidden practices in Deut 18:10–11 may indicate the timing of this semantic transformation.

Applying Universal Design for Learning to library peer professional development: a case study acknowledging adults as learners

PurposeThis paper tracks the literature through narrative progression from defining accessibility and inclusivity to Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and disability justice. This review culminated in the development of a check list of best practices for librarians who create online learning objects to consider. Then we turn to a case study of presenting these findings to professionals through the framework of UDL with a focus on multiple means of representation and engagement. We conclude with a reflective discussion on process and the potential for broader impact and future directions.Design/methodology/approachThis paper presents a case study of informing praxis with existing research while experimenting to address gaps in the literature through practice.FindingsThis paper presents a strong argument for using UDL frameworks beyond primary, secondary and higher education to contexts where professionals may be learning.Originality/valueThe research surrounding UDL beyond standard educational contexts does not currently exist, inside or outside of the library literature. This paper presents a new paradigm in expanding accessible and inclusive learning practices to include less formalized learning spaces.

Bad business practices in the language services industry

Abstract The language services industry has enjoyed consistent economic growth over the past 15 years, yet not all participants have reaped its benefits. Individual language professionals have faced persistently low rates of pay, a lack of social benefits, and reduced job security. This predicament has been exacerbated by disruptions brought by technologies such as machine translation and artificial intelligence, and the questionable business practices of language services providers. Existing research primarily focuses on economic and technological aspects, overlooking the experiences of linguists. This article seeks to broaden this area of study by compiling a comprehensive list of the bad business practices that individual practitioners experience. A survey of 682 freelance translators provides the foundation, yielding a catalogue of 17 detrimental practices along with their prevalence rates. The article also outlines proposals for addressing these issues and identifies potential avenues for future research in this domain.

A qualitative interview study exploring continuity within a community integrated palliative care model and the influence of remote and digital approaches to care.

Demand for palliative care is rising. Recent UK policy approaches promote integrated care models - collaborations between generalist practitioners and multidisciplinary specialists - and remote and digital practices. The extent to which different forms of continuity are supported within this evolving context is currently unclear. To explore the experience of continuity and impact of remote and digital practices within an integrated palliative care model. A qualitative interview study of patients and bereaved relatives recruited from a GP practice list and healthcare professionals delivering the integrated palliative care service for that population. 20 narrative and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 22 patients, relatives, and professionals between May 2022 and November 2023. They explored how care was delivered or received, focusing on coherency and the use of remote and digital practices. Data were theorized using a novel framework that considered psychodynamic, biomedical, sociotechnical, and sociopolitical domains of continuity. The need for human care and connection were of primary importance and affected by intersubjective, biomedical, sociotechnical, and sociopolitical factors that influenced continuity of care. Despite the logistical ease of remote and digital practices, professionals had to work harder or around technologies to provide a 'caring' service. This was exacerbated by a lack of co-localisation, loss of longitudinal relationships, and reduction in tacit knowledge. Numerous complex factors and the exacerbating effects of remote and digital practices influence continuity and coherency within an integrated palliative care model.

Advancing the field of viroporins-Structure, function and pharmacology: IUPHAR Review 39.

Viroporins possess important potential as antiviral targets due to their critical roles during virus life cycles, spanning from virus entry to egress. Although the antiviral amantadine targets the M2 viroporin of influenza A virus, successful progression of other viroporin inhibitors into clinical use remains challenging. These challenges relate in varying proportions to a lack of reliable full-length 3D-structures, difficulties in functionally characterising individual viroporins, and absence of verifiable direct binding between inhibitor and viroporin. This review offers perspectives to help overcome these challenges. We provide a comprehensive overview of the viroporin family, including their structural and functional features, highlighting the moldability of their energy landscapes and actions. To advance the field, we suggest a list of best practices to aspire towards unambiguous viroporin identification and characterisation, along with considerations of potential pitfalls. Finally, we present current and future scenarios of, and prospects for, viroporin targeting drugs.

Development of 20-Talker Korean Sentence In Noise Test Lists

Purpose: Clinical speech recognition measures often present the sentences recorded with a single speaker and one rate of speech. Performances with single-talker recordings may not accurately represent the speech recognition abilities of the listeners in a multitalker communication situation. The present study aimed to construct and optimize the sentences recorded by 20 different talkers for sentence-in-noise recognition tests (20-talker Korean sentence-in-noise test, 20-talker K-SIN).Methods: Phases I and II were conducted in this study. In phase I (developmental phase), preliminary 720 sentences composed of 3 to 6 words were selected and recorded by twenty different talkers (10 male and 10 female). The recorded sentences were superimposed to generate a speech-shaped noise similar to the long-term average speech spectrum of the sentences. In phase II (optimization and formation of equally intelligible sentence lists), the psychometric functions of 30 normal-hearing listeners were obtained from the sentence-in-noise recognition scores at three different signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) (-2, -4, and -7 dB). Based on these scores, the SNR required for 50% sentence intelligibility (SNR-50) and the slope at that point were derived from the psychometric function curves.Results: Before level adjustment, the median SNR-50 and slope were -4.12 dB SNR and 24.33%/dB over 720 sentences. Level adjustments were applied to homogenize the intelligibility of the sentences, resulting in 508 sentences remained. Out of 508 sentences, 320 sentences were used to construct 1 practice list and 15 test lists, wherein 20 sentences in each list were spoken by each of the 20 different talkers.Conclusion: The 20-talker K-SIN sentences can be used for high-variability speech-in-noise recognition test to better reflect the multitalker communication abilities of listeners.

The changing shape of English general practice: a retrospective longitudinal study using national datasets describing trends in organisational structure, workforce and recorded appointments

ObjectiveTo describe trends in the organisational structure, workforce and recorded appointments by role in English general practice.DesignRetrospective longitudinal study.SettingEnglish general practice.Data sources and participantsNHS England, Office for Health Improvement and...

The changing shape of general practice in Scotland: the rise of the ‘megapractice’

ObjectivesTo describe the trends in the nature of general practices in Scotland between 2014/15 and 2023. Study designDescriptive ecological study. MethodsWe obtained data from Public Health Scotland and used general practitioner (GP) practice codes, practice names, and the General Medical Council (GMC) numbers of their listed GPs to describe trends in practice characteristics and to identify individual practices that were likely to be operating as a single entity. ResultsDefining practice entities is difficult because different GP practice codes are often retained when GPs are performing across multiple practices. If GP practice codes alone are used, the median practice list size increased from 5094 to 5881, and the mean from 5588 to 6289, between 2013/14 and 2020/21. There was one outlier practice that grew to have over 45,000 patients registered by 2020/21. However, this underestimates the extent of this new mega-practice phenomenon. Using the GMC numbers of GPs listed as performers to identify where the same GPs are working across multiple GP practice codes, we identified a series of mega-practices that span across health board areas and which have experienced a dramatic increase in their list size (with the two largest having list sizes of over 101,000 and 77,000 patients, respectively). ConclusionsFurther research is needed to better understand: how mega-practices provide services and whether this differs from other practices; where financial rewards accumulate within mega-practices; differences in staffing between mega-practices and other models; and the impacts mega-practices have on the quality and continuity of care and on health and inequality outcomes.

Practice list size, workforce composition and performance in English general practice: a latent profile analysis

BackgroundFollowing government calls for General Practices in England to work at scale, some practices have grown in size from traditionally small, General Practitioner (GP)-led organisations to large multidisciplinary enterprises. We assessed the effect of practice list size and workforce composition on practice performance in clinical outcomes and patient experience.MethodsWe linked five practice-level datasets in England to obtain a single dataset of practice workforce, list size, proportion of registered patients ≥ 65 years of age, female-male sex ratio, deprivation, rurality, GP contract type, patient experience of care, and Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) and non-QOF clinical processes and outcomes. Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) was used to cluster general practices into groups based on practice list size and workforce composition. Bayesian Information Criterion, Akaike Information Criterion and deliberation within the research team were used to determine the most informative number of groups. One-way ANOVA was used to assess how groups differed on indicator variables and other variables of interest. Linear regression was used to assess the association between practice group and practice performance.ResultsA total of 6024 practices were available for class assignment. We determined that a 3-class grouping provided the most meaningful interpretation; 4494 (74.6%) were classified as ‘Small GP-reliant practices’, 1400 (23.2%) were labelled ‘Medium-size GP-led practices with a multidisciplinary team (MDT) input’ and 131 (2.2%) practices were named ‘Large multidisciplinary practices’. Small GP-reliant practices outperformed larger multidisciplinary practices on all patient-reported indicators except on confidence and trust where medium-size GP-led practices with MDT input appeared to do better. There was no difference in performance between small GP-reliant practices and larger multidisciplinary practices on QOF incentivised indicators except on asthma reviews where medium-size GP-led practices with MDT input performed worse than smaller GP-reliant practices and immunisation coverage where the same group performed better than smaller GP-reliant practices. For non-incentivised indicators, larger multidisciplinary practices had higher cancer detection rates than small GP-reliant practices.ConclusionSmall GP-reliant practices were found to provide better patient reported access, continuity of care, experience and satisfaction with care. Larger multidisciplinary practices appeared to have better cancer detection rates but had no effect on other clinical processes and outcomes. As England moves towards larger multidisciplinary practices efforts should be made to preserve good patient experience.

Redefining feasibility in clinical trials: Collaborative approaches for improved site selection

BackgroundThis Site Feasibility Task Force convened to assess the complex and burdensome process of site feasibility in clinical trials. The objective was to create mutual understanding of challenges and provide suggestions for improving collaboration among sponsors, contract research organizations (CROs), and sites. MethodsThe task force was composed of representatives from sponsors, CROs and sites (43 % Sites, 20 % Site Networks, 10 % Small/mid-size sponsors, 10 % Small/mid-size CROs, 10 % Large sponsors, 7 % Large CROs). The group collaborated to define the scope of the problem, identify challenges in the current process, and provide suggestions for improving the process. ResultsThe group found there is a need for better differentiation between the three main stages of feasibility, and the four sub-phases of Site Feasibility. The discussion brought to light emerging trends like early initiation of Site Feasibility and premature engagement of sites by CROs. To fully explain these challenges, the group analyzed the current practices and documented their downstream impact on clinical trial execution for all stakeholders. A list of best practices emerged naturally from this analysis. These findings are aggregated into short and actionable best practice guides. ConclusionThe task force suggests practical changes for the feasibility process and raises awareness of emerging trends and their associated risks. This awareness can begin to drive change in the site feasibility process, although industry-wide transformation will require new levels of collaboration, data standardization and automation tools. The potential benefits of evolving this process are significant and meaningful for more efficient and successful clinical trials.

How Managerial Practices Impact Perceived Organizational Effectiveness: A Study of Corporate Foundations

The organizational effectiveness of nonprofit organizations (NPOs) has received considerable attention from the scientific research community and society. Nonprofit scholars call for more empirical research that tests existing theories and develops multidimensional frameworks at the organizational level, with a focus on actual management practices. Previous studies have suggested that a broad set of management practices at the program and organizational levels have positive implications for the perceived effectiveness of NPOs. This study evaluates and refines a conceptual model of the antecedents of organizational effectiveness and validates its applicability in the context of charitable foundations established by corporations. Based on survey data from their executive leaders, this study’s empirical findings suggest that perceived organizational effectiveness is less affected by a broad set of management practices and is driven by a few selected best practices that focus on specific stakeholder groups (i.e., experts). Moreover, the results show that certain organizational characteristics, such as organizational experience, can strengthen the perceived effectiveness of charitable foundations. Overall, the results of this study may help nonprofit executive leaders to better understand that a careful selection and implementation of specific practices might be more beneficial for an organization’s effectiveness than an extensive list of practices. Moreover, this study contributes on a broader theoretical level to the study of multidimensional frameworks as a suitable measure for identifying key antecedents of leader-perceived organizational effectiveness across different types of NPOs.

Insights into leadership practices in South African Higher Education

Orientation: The complexity of higher education highlights leadership’s significance. Effective leadership ensures quality education and institutional survival, with senior academics (specifically, professors and associate professors) greatly influencing reputation and research. Exploring senior academics’ leadership experiences is therefore crucial.Research purpose: This study aimed to explore senior academics’ experiences of leadership behaviours at a South African higher education institution, extracting their experiences of positive and negative behaviours.Motivation for the study: Senior academics play significant roles, with vital teaching, research, and reputation contributions to the quality of the university’s educational service. Despite numerous leadership studies, none have explored senior academics’ experiences in South Africa.Research approach/design and method: In this study, a qualitative descriptive design was employed to investigate the experiences and perspectives of 14 senior academics. The participants were selected using stratified random and snowball sampling techniques.Main findings: Participants experienced positive, effective behaviours and negative, destructive behaviours, highlighting the complexity of leadership experiences through contrasting experiences. Positive, effective leadership behaviours include constructive engagement, compassionate support, psychological safety and enabling growth. Negative, destructive leadership behaviours include poor communication and collaboration, eroding integrity and regard, unresolved issues, depersonalisation and toxic practices.Practical/managerial implications: Understanding experiences and implementing recommendations could incorporate positive leadership behaviours into competency frameworks for human resources practices. Awareness of the leadership ethos dichotomy can potentially establish a unique and characteristic leadership culture.Contribution/value-add: This study provides senior academics’ leadership behaviour perspectives and produces lists of positive and negative leadership practices.

Identifying the perceptions, barriers, and implementation of middle school supervised agricultural experiences

Although School based agricultural education (SBAE) teachers have a variety or responsibilities within a comprehensive program, supervised agricultural experience (SAE) programs are considered an intracurricular component. Unfortunately, the ability for teachers to plan for and facilitate SAEs has been reported as lacking. The purpose of this study was to identify the current perceptions, barriers, and implementation of current middle school SAEs in the Southeast United States, which was carried out by a modified Delphi approach to reach consensus on the perceptions, barriers, and implementation of middle school SAEs from a panel of experts. After three rounds, 18 items achieved consensus related to perceptions of Middle School SAE integration, 19 items outlining barriers for Middle School SAE implementation, and 22 items indicating best practices for Middle School SAE integration. When we consider the uniqueness of middle school SBAE programs, the overall list of perceptions, barriers, and best practices is of great value for future implementation as additional programs are added. Recommendations for practice begin with purposeful professional development opportunities specific for middle school SBAE teachers.

Best practices for Core Argo floats - part 1: getting started and data considerations

Argo floats have been deployed in the global ocean for over 20 years. The Core mission of the Argo program (Core Argo) has contributed well over 2 million profiles of salinity and temperature of the upper 2000 m of the water column for a variety of operational and scientific applications. Core Argo floats have evolved such that the program currently consists of more than eight types of Core Argo float, some of which belong to second or third generation developments, three unique satellite communication systems (Argos, Iridium and Beidou) and two types of Conductivity, Temperature and Depth (CTD) sensor systems (Seabird and RBR). This, together with a well-established data management system, delayed mode data quality control, FAIR and open data access, make the program a very successful ocean observing network. Here we present Part 1 of the Best Practices for Core Argo floats in terms of how users can get started in the program, recommended metadata parameters and the data management system. The objective is to encourage new and developing scientists, research teams and institutions to contribute to the OneArgo Program, specifically to the Core Argo mission. Only by leveraging sustained contributions from current Core Argo float groups with new and emerging Argo teams and users who are eager to get involved and are actively encouraged to do so, can the OneArgo initiative be realized. This paper presents a list of best practices to get started in the program, set up the recommended metadata, implement the data management system with the aim to encourage new scientists, countries and research teams to contribute to the OneArgo Program.

Education to improve timeliness of shingles diagnosis in primary care: a cluster randomised study within a trial with nested qualitative study.

Herpes zoster (shingles) is normally diagnosed clinically. Timely diagnosis is important so that antiviral treatment can be started soon after rash onset. To assess whether a practice-level educational intervention, aimed at non-clinical patient-facing staff, improves the timely assessment of patients with shingles. This was a cluster randomised study within a trial (SWAT) with nested qualitative study in general practices in England. Practices were cluster randomised 1:1, stratified by centre and minimised by practice list size and Index of Multiple Deprivation score. Intervention practices were sent educational materials, highlighting the common presenting features of shingles and what action to take if suspected. The primary and secondary outcomes were the mean proportion of patients per practice seen within 72 and 144 h of rash onset, respectively. Comparison between groups was conducted using linear regression, adjusting for randomisation variables. Semi-structured interviews with practice staff in intervention practices explored views and opinions about the intervention. In total, 67 practices were enrolled; 34 randomised to the intervention and 33 to the control. The mean difference in proportion of patients seen within 72 and 144 h was -0.132 (95% confidence interval [CI] = -0.308 to 0.043) and -0.039 (95% CI = -0.158 to 0.080), respectively. In intervention practices, 90.9% reported distributing the educational materials; however, engagement with these was suboptimal. Twelve participants were interviewed, and the poster component of the intervention was said to be easiest to implement. Our educational intervention did not improve the timely assessment of patients with shingles. This may be the result of poor intervention engagement.

Conceptualising boundary work activities to enhance credible, salient and legitimate knowledge in sustainability transdisciplinary research projects

Transdisciplinary research (TDR) is one method where scientific and societal actors, each with various backgrounds, collaborate to address complex problems through knowledge co-creation. Despite its widespread use, TDR still lacks a common definition and methodology which makes it challenging to define clear mechanisms for knowledge co-creation that facilitate impact. Many authors across complementary bodies of literature provide lists of principles, best practices and approaches for TDR, but in practice these are rarely applied consistently. In this conceptual paper, we fill this gap and increase methodological coherence for sustainability TDR by consolidating these bodies of literature into a list of suggested activities for scientists and practitioners across contexts to apply to enhance the impact of their work. We consolidate primary and secondary literature from the fields of TDR, sustainability, research impact, stakeholder engagement, project management, boundary work and knowledge systems with our own practical experience in sustainability TDR projects. This synthesis leads to our conceptual and analytical framework of twelve boundary work activities that enhance credible, salient and legitimate (CSL) knowledge. Our assumption is that if boundary work activities are successfully implemented across the phases of a TDR project and enhance CSL knowledge, then there will be cascading effects that support a higher likelihood of knowledge use and outcomes that lead to impactful sustainability transformations.

Сравнительно-правовой анализ полномочий товарных бирж и регуляторов организаторов торговли по контролю за этическим поведением участников торгов (на примере Великобритании, США, Японии и Индии)

In the current economic and political conditions there is a need to regulate the conduct of exchange traders. Currently, exchanges carry out this regulation directly, but it is not sufficient. Therefore, a comparative legal analysis of approaches to regulating the ethical conduct of traders in foreign jurisdictions is particularly relevant. Foreign experience shows that regulators and exchanges identify trader misconduct, establish criteria for such conduct and measures to punish it. At the same time, to minimize potential consequences for the commodity market, for example, due to erroneous actions by exchanges in qualifying conduct, and maintain its stability, the foreign regulator exercises control over activities of exchanges and trader compliance with local legislation, issues relevant acts and recommendations containing a list of desirable and undesirable market practices. According to the author, when introducing amendments and additions to regulatory legal acts regarding the powers of the Bank of Russia, it may be beneficial to consider foreign experience in regulating misconduct of exchange traders in the commodity market in Russian practice.

Applications of immersive technologies in education : A systematic literature review

Although advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR) have been available since the 1950s, many educators still wonder how they can apply them in their practice. Before the release of Open AI and ChatGPT in 2022, no widespread applications of AI were reported in the literature, and after this breakthrough, most educators are focusing exclusively on this particular technology. There is a need to consider other types and other applications of AI. This paper reviews the evolution of the so-called immersive technologies and the status of their applications in education. This study aims to fill this gap by investigating the literature to identify current applications of AI and VR in education, focusing on real-life examples of how these technologies are currently being utilised. Besides, the paper provides a list of best practices in the utilisation of immersive technologies, and special attention is given to this new tool. It offers new and inspiring research topics and innovative research strategies for researchers in the field. The literature review not only sheds light on the types of journals publishing articles on AI and VR applications but also elucidates the nature of these articles. In the conclusion section of this paper, the limitations of prior studies are discussed and recommendations for future research are offered.

Development of New Open-Set Speech Material for Use in Clinical Audiology with Speakers of British English.

The Chear open-set performance test (COPT), which uses a carrier phrase followed by a monosyllabic test word, is intended for clinical assessment of speech recognition, evaluation of hearing-device performance, and the fine-tuning of hearing devices for speakers of British English. This paper assesses practice effects, test-retest reliability, and the variability across lists of the COPT. In experiment 1, 16 normal-hearing participants were tested using an initial version of the COPT, at three speech-to-noise ratios (SNRs). Experiment 2 used revised COPT lists, with items swapped between lists to reduce differences in difficulty across lists. In experiment 3, test-retest repeatability was assessed for stimuli presented in quiet, using 15 participants with sensorineural hearing loss. After administration of a single practice list, no practice effects were evident. The critical difference between scores for two lists was about 2 words (out of 15) or 5 phonemes (out of 50). The mean estimated SNR required for 74% words correct was -0.56 dB, with a standard deviation across lists of 0.16 dB. For the participants with hearing loss tested in quiet, the critical difference between scores for two lists was about 3 words (out of 15) or 6 phonemes (out of 50).

Construction Methods and Lessons Learned for a Non-Proprietary Ultra-High Performance Concrete Overlay

The work presented in this paper includes the construction methods and lessons learned from the placement of a non-proprietary ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) overlay through the rehabilitation of a concrete bridge deck located in Socorro, New Mexico, USA. The selected bridge is a multi-cell, box girder bridge with four spans and a total length of 91.4 m and a width of 16.5 m with two traffic lanes. Rehabilitation of the bridge involved removing the top surface of the existing deck (deteriorated concrete), installing a high-performance deck (HPD) leveling course, and placing a 25 mm UHPC overlay. Sensors were installed in the bridge superstructure (multi-cell box girders, HPD, and overlay) for long-term monitoring. Overlay assessment included physical testing to evaluate the condition of the overlay–substrate bond by chain dragging and direct tension pull-off testing. Conclusions and lessons learned from this investigation serve as a fundamental list of best practices and recommendations for field construction of a non-proprietary UHPC overlay. Recommendations for preparatory tasks including material selection, substrate surface preparation, placement preparation, handling of materials, and UHPC mixing are provided. The recommendations also list best practices concerning the placement of the overlay, curing procedures, and quality assurance testing. Lastly, suggestions are presented for contracts pertaining to UHPC overlay projects.