Short-term Practice Research Articles

What are the Conceptions of Macroeconomic Theories

The main aim of this research is to find out the relationship of the above factors that is: consumption, unemployment, culture, investment and international trade and savings. This research will explore how they affect each other in daily practice or either in long-term or short-term practice.

Practice Patterns and Outcomes in Patients with Esophagitis

Purpose: Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is common. We studied the short-term outcomes, practice patterns and demographics of patients with esophagitis who presented to an academic tertiary care hospital. Methods: We identified patients with esophagitis according to endoscopy records during 2009 at an academic tertiary referral center. There were 96 patients who met the inclusion criteria in this retrospective cohort study. Categorical variables were expressed as percentages and analyzed through chi square/Fishers exact tests. Continuous variables were analyzed using Student's t test. Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS 19. Results: Of 96 patients with diagnosis of esophagitis on initial endoscopy (EGD1), 40% were inpatient and 60% outpatient, (56 men, 40 women) with a mean age of 54 and a mean BMI of 29. The top indications for the procedure were abdominal pain (18.8%), GERD (15.6%), and GI bleeding (13.5%). Follow up EGD (EGD2) was performed on 22 of 96 patients with only 5 (5.2%) for esophagitis surveillance. The mean time interval between EGD1 and EGD2 was 30 weeks. On EGD1, of 96 patients, 25 (26%) had severe esophagitis (LA classification B/C) and 63 (65%) had mild esophagitis (LA classification A/B). On EGD2, of 22 patients, 13 had esophagitis, 7 of which were severe (54%). 6 of the 7 also had severe esophagitis on the initial endoscopy. On EGD1, 7 of 96 patients (7.3%) and on EGD2, 4 of 22 patients (18%) were suspected for BE. Univariate analysis revealed BMI less than 30 (p=0.01) and inpatient status (p<0.001) as a risk factor for severe esophagitis. However, multivariate analysis only confirmed being inpatient as a significant risk factor. Data also suggested drinking caffeine was associated with milder esophagitis (p=0.008). Statistically, when diagnosed, severe esophagitis is more likely to have a recommendation for a repeat endoscopy in comparison to mild esophagitis (p=0.04). However, the majority, 15 out of 25 (60%) of patients with severe esophagitis did not have a recommendation for repeat EGD. In addition, patients with severe esophagitis are also more likely to have a documented follow up EGD than patients with mild esophagitis (p=0.04). Conclusion: Although patients diagnosed with severe esophagitis were more likely to receive a recommendation for a follow up EGD than those with mild esophagitis, the recommendations were still inconsistent. Based on our limited data, it is more likely that a follow up EGD will have a diagnosis of severe esophagitis and BE, if on the first EGD, there was also a diagnosis of severe esophagitis. More studies are needed to help identify best practices for resource utilization in patients with esophagitis.

Practice Effects: A Unique Cognitive Variable

Practice effects are improvements in cognitive test performance due to repeated evaluation with the same or similar test materials. Prior studies have reported that these improvements can vary with age, education/intellect, and disease status. However, additional information is needed about variables that influence practice effects. The current study prospectively quantified short-term practice effects in 268 community-dwelling older adults and compared these practice effects to demographic variables, global cognition, premorbid intellect, depression, and individual cognitive domains. Overall, practice effects were not significantly related to most demographic and clinical characteristics or individual cognitive domains, which was contrary to our hypotheses. However, since practice effects appear to be uninfluenced by many variables that typically affect cognitive scores, they may be a unique and valuable tool that could be applied in a number of diverse patient groups.

An Evaluation of Teaching Physical Examination to Pharmacists

Evolving scope of practice has led pharmacists to develop new skills traditionally performed by other members of the health care team, including physical examination (PE). A session to teach PE skills to pharmacists was created as part of a professional development program. The purpose of this study was to evaluate participants' perception of, barriers to and confidence in performing PE before and after the session. A 2-hour session introduced participants to PE as part of a primary care professional development program. Surveys were administered before and after the session, and then 4 weeks later. Participants' confidence in performing PE was assessed using a 4-point unipolar scale questionnaire, and mean weighted responses were compared between the pre- and post-session surveys. Thirty-four pharmacists participated in the study. At baseline, 82.4% had never received formal PE education, but 38.2% performed PE in practice, including blood pressure measurement. Eighty-two percent of participants identified barriers to performing PE, the most common being lack of formal training. Participants' confidence with PE significantly increased between the pre- and post-session surveys, except for comfort with making drug therapy interventions based on PE findings. Forty-three percent of participants completed the 4-week follow-up survey, which demonstrated that the use of PE in practice remained unchanged. Prior to the session, most participants did not use PE in their practice, primarily due to a lack of formal training. The session significantly improved participants' confidence in PE, but this did not translate into short-term practice change.

Practice on conflict tasks promotes executive function of working memory in the elderly

Effects of practice on a conflict task in elderly individuals are examined with a focus on its impact on executive function in working memory. During a short-term practice period, healthy elderly participants practiced switching attention using a Stroop task that involved a conflict between a task relevant stimulus and an irrelevant stimulus. To explore neural substrates underlying practice effects, two working memory tasks were used: a focus reading span test (F-RST) and a non-focus reading span test (NF-RST); the NF-RST test demanded greater switching attention due to a conflict between the relevant task stimulus and an irrelevant task stimulus, thus requiring an attention switch from the latter to the former. Following the Stroop task practice, fMRI data showed that participants who had engaged in practice had significant increases in activation in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), the left inferior parietal lobule (IPL), the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and the precuneus regions during the NF-RST. By contrast, a control group, which did not practice, showed no significant increases in these regions. Results suggest that practice on conflict tasks in elderly individuals activated regions related to conflict perceiving and attention switching regions as well as attention-maintenance regions thereby improving performance on tasks requiring a high degree of attention control of working memory.

Impact of late payment on Firms' profitability: Empirical evidence from Malaysia

This paper examines whether late payment (LP) by customers impacts firms' profitability, using a cross-sectional sample of 287 Malaysian public-listed manufacturing firms for the financial year 2007. This is an important issue given that trade credit is commonly seen as a significant short-term financing practice in Asia. However, in Malaysia, trade credit has not been explored, largely due to the unavailability of relevant published data and the reluctance of firms to divulge information regarding their trade credit practices. To overcome this, we suggest a new measure of LP using the Pareto 80:20 rule to take cognisance of local nuances and industry practice, and argue that Pareto Days Overdue is an appropriate measure of LP for Malaysia. We find that 60% of the sampled firms experience LP and LP has a significant inverse effect on their profitability; and those with shorter credit terms and Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) perform better than those with longer credit terms and longer DSO. The paper also discusses implications for policy makers and regulators since the accounting rules related to the disclosure of receivables in Malaysia are converging towards the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

Short-term practice effects and variability in cognitive testing in a healthy elderly population

BackgroundCognitive decline in the elderly is a subject of intense focus. However, there is a lack of consensus regarding definition of significant decline in connection with repeated testing and the interpretation of cognitive tests results must take into account the practice effect and variability in test performance.The aim of this study was to collect cognitive test results with repeated testing in an elderly healthy population. Methods161 healthy controls ≥60years were included. Cognitive testing was performed upon entry into the study, at 1week and 3months. Practice effect was evaluated on 7 neuropsychological measures and reference values of clinically important changes were calculated according to z-scores above 1.96. ResultsTest scores improved significantly (p<0.05) in 2 of 7 measures between baseline and 2nd test and in 6 of 7 measures between baseline and 3rd test session. No significant correlation was found between magnitude of practice effect and age or educational status. ConclusionPractice effect and variability in cognitive testing in the elderly are important to consider when evaluating changes in cognitive performance over a short period of time.

Relating Brain Damage to Brain Plasticity in Patients With Multiple Sclerosis

Background. Failure of adaptive plasticity with increasing pathology is suggested to contribute to progression of disability in multiple sclerosis (MS). However, functional impairments can be reduced with practice, suggesting that brain plasticity is preserved even in patients with substantial damage. Objective. Here, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to probe systems-level mechanisms of brain plasticity associated with improvements in visuomotor performance in MS patients and related to measures of microstructural damage. Methods. 23 MS patients and 12 healthy controls underwent brain fMRI during the first practice session of a visuomotor task (short-term practice) and after 2 weeks of daily practice with the same task (longer-term practice). Participants also underwent a structural brain MRI scan. Results. Patients performed more poorly than controls at baseline. Nonetheless, with practice, patients showed performance improvements similar to controls and independent of the extent of MRI measures of brain pathology. Different relationships between performance improvements and activations were found between groups: greater short-term improvements were associated with lower activation in the sensorimotor, posterior cingulate, and parahippocampal cortices for patients, whereas greater long-term improvements correlated with smaller activation reductions in the visual cortex of controls. Conclusions. Brain plasticity for visuomotor practice is preserved in MS patients despite a high burden of cerebral pathology. Cognitive systems different from those acting in controls contribute to this plasticity in patients. These findings challenge the notion that increasing pathology is accompanied by an outright failure of adaptive plasticity, supporting a neuroscientific rationale for recovery-oriented strategies even in chronically disabled patients.

PA01.21. Effect of short term yoga practice on weight and blood pressure - An observational study

Purpose: Adult hood attained with paradogmic shift in life style and its own stress leading to birth of many ailments of chronic nature. Hypertension and obesity considered to trigger many fatal diseases. Yoga can be implemented as non pharmacological intervention in these problems. So to evaluate effect of yoga during short term yoga program on semi urban school teachers was carried out. Objectives: To assess effect of yoga techniques on body weight, systolic and diastolic blood pressure during short term practice. Method: 55 Semi urban school teachers between age group 20 to 55 years were subjected to one week Yoga program. Yoga training was given for 2 hrs from 6am to 8am. Yoga session included ASANAS and PRANAYAM, QUICK RELAXATION TECHNIQUE (Q.R.T). Weight, Blood Pressure was recorded before yoga session on first day and on last day after yoga performance. The results were statistically analyzed. Result: During the study, significant result in Weight with t value 2.506 and Systolic Blood pressure with t value 2.214 at P>0.05. But no significant result in Diastolic Blood pressure was observed at P>0.05 with t value 0.413. Discussion: Asana like Surya Namaskara, Ardha kati chakrasana, Paada Hastasana etc may regulate lipid metabolism, calorie expenditure by muscles and soft tissue and also reduced fat accumulation may attributed to Weight reduction. Significant Drop in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure was may be due to Pranayama and Quick Relaxation Technique which helped in reducing stress and increase mental relaxation. Conclusion: 1. Even short term yoga practice has its beneficial effect on weight and blood pressure. 2. Hence yoga therapy can be considered as potential alternative approach for the management of weight and blood pressure.

Effects of Extensive Practice on Bradykinesia in Parkinson’s Disease: Improvement, Retention and Transfer

We investigated the effects of extensive practice of rapid aiming on bradykinesia and, more specifically, generation of peak velocity, in discrete rapid aiming and in transfer to reach-to-grasp. Twenty-one participants (seven young adults, seven older adults, and seven adults with mild to moderate Parkinson's disease (PD) while on medication) engaged in eight practice periods per week for three weeks (> 700 trials), with changes in performance measured weekly. Retention was measured weekly for three weeks postpractice. Movement time decreased with one week of practice, primarily due to a decrease in time-to-peak velocity. With practice and after retention, the PD group generated peak velocity as consistently as both neurologically healthy groups, but remained more variable in time-to-peak velocity. Transfer was observed in the neurologically healthy groups, but not in the PD group. We concluded that short-term practice (one week in our paradigm) is sufficient for decreasing movement time, but more extensive practice is needed to improve consistency of rapid aiming performance for people with mild to moderate PD.

Investigating factors influencing construction waste management efforts in developing countries: an experience from Thailand

Rapid economic growth and urbanization in developing countries lead to extensive construction activities that generate a large amount of waste. A challenge is how to manage construction waste in the most sustainable way. In the developing world, research on construction waste management is scarce and such academic knowledge needs to be responsive to actual practices in the industry in order to be implemented. As construction projects involve a number of participants and stakeholders, their participation and commitment can have a major influence on the goals of green and sustainable construction for urban development. This study provides a significant step in conducting a very first research of this kind in Thailand by aiming to investigate the level of construction stakeholders' commitment as well as the achievement of construction waste management in order to improve short-term practices and to establish a long-term strategic construction waste management plan. In this study, a structural equation model was employed to investigate the influence of factors that are related to environmental aspects, social aspects, and economic aspect of construction waste management. Concern about health and safety was found to be the most significant and dominant influence on the achievement of sustainable construction waste management. Other factors affecting the successful management of construction waste in Thai construction projects were also identified. It is perceived that this study has potential to contribute useful guidelines for practitioners both in Thailand and other developing countries with similar contexts.

Effect of short-term practice of Yoga on pulmonary functions

BackgroundThe ancient science of Yoga is known to promote health and prevent certain illnesses. A long-term practice of Yoga brings about positive changes in almost all physiological parameters of an individual. The present study was undertaken to ascertain whether a combination of various Yoga practices for short duration is effective to improve pulmonary functions.MethodPulmonary function tests viz. Forced Vital Capacity (FVC), Forced Expiratory Volume in one second (FEV1), FEV1%, Maximum Ventilatory Volume (MVV), Peak Expiratory Flow Rate (PEFR), Forced Expiratory Flow 25 to 75% (FEF 25 to 75%), Maximum Expiratory Flow Rate for 0.2 to 1.2 liters (MEFR 0.2 to 1.2L) were carried out in healthy males (n=31) and females (n=29) in the age group of 18 to 50 yrs. All subjects underwent yoga practice over a period of 4 months (40 minutes/day) which included various yogasanas, breathing exercises and shuddhi kriyas. At the end of four months, same pulmonary function tests were repeated and results were analyzed.It was found that the FVC, FEV1, MVV, PEFR, FEF 25 to 75%, &amp; MEFR 0.2 to 1.2L improved significantly while FEV1% remained unchanged.Even a short duration practice of Yoga is effective in improvement of pulmonary functions and ultimately fitness of an individual.

Application of constructivism theory in education innovation of short-term practice in Chinese materia medica dispensary of clinical speciality students

Application of constructivism theory in education innovation of short-term practice in Chinese materia medica dispensary of clinical speciality students

Psychobiological Changes from Relaxation Response Elicitation: Long-Term Practitioners vs. Novices

The relaxation response (RR) is a physiological state that is the counterpart to the stress response. We investigate the psychological and biological effects, as well as the correlation between these two effects that are associated with short-term vs. long-term practice of techniques that elicit the RR ("RR practice"). The study comprised both a cross sectional and an 8-week prospective design. The study sample included individuals with a long-term RR practice ("long-term practitioners" n = 28) and those with no prior RR practice experience ("novices" n = 28). The novices received 8 weeks of RR-elicitation training ("RR training") for the prospective analysis (short-term practice). Long-term practitioners reported lower levels of psychological distress than the novices before they received RR training. As a result of the 8-week RR training, novices significantly reduced their psychological distress to levels comparable to that of long-term practitioners. Long-term practitioners had greater immediate (after listening to a RR-eliciting CD) decreases in psychological distress level than the 8-week trained novices. Furthermore, the reduction in psychological distress levels for long-term practitioners correlated with a reduction in biological measures of stress, after controlling for baseline values. There was no reduction in biological measures and no correlation with psychological measures in the 8-week trained novices. While our data indicate that even a short-term 8-week RR-eliciting practice can decrease psychological distress levels, only after years of RR practice does psychological distress reduction coincide with biological change.

Practice Effects Predict Cognitive Outcome in Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment

Practice effects on cognitive tests have been shown to further characterize patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and may provide predictive information about cognitive change across time. We tested the hypothesis that a loss of practice effects would portend a worse prognosis in aMCI. Longitudinal, observational design following participants across 1 year. Community-based cohort. Three groups of older adults: 1) cognitively intact (n = 57), 2) aMCI with large practice effects across 1 week (MCI + PE, n = 25), and 3) aMCI with minimal practice effects across 1 week (MCI - PE, n = 26). Neuropsychological tests. After controlling for age and baseline cognitive differences, the MCI - PE group performed significantly worse than the other groups after 1 year on measures of immediate memory, delayed memory, language, and overall cognition. Although these results need to be replicated in larger samples, the loss of short-term practice effects portends a worse prognosis in patients with aMCI.

Cortical Plasticity Induced by Short-Term Multimodal Musical Rhythm Training

Performing music is a multimodal experience involving the visual, auditory, and somatosensory modalities as well as the motor system. Therefore, musical training is an excellent model to study multimodal brain plasticity. Indeed, we have previously shown that short-term piano practice increase the magnetoencephalographic (MEG) response to melodic material in novice players. Here we investigate the impact of piano training using a rhythmic-focused exercise on responses to rhythmic musical material. Musical training with non musicians was conducted over a period of two weeks. One group (sensorimotor-auditory, SA) learned to play a piano sequence with a distinct musical rhythm, another group (auditory, A) listened to, and evaluated the rhythmic accuracy of the performances of the SA-group. Training-induced cortical plasticity was evaluated using MEG, comparing the mismatch negativity (MMN) in response to occasional rhythmic deviants in a repeating rhythm pattern before and after training. The SA-group showed a significantly greater enlargement of MMN and P2 to deviants after training compared to the A- group. The training-induced increase of the rhythm MMN was bilaterally expressed in contrast to our previous finding where the MMN for deviants in the pitch domain showed a larger right than left increase. The results indicate that when auditory experience is strictly controlled during training, involvement of the sensorimotor system and perhaps increased attentional recources that are needed in producing rhythms lead to more robust plastic changes in the auditory cortex compared to when rhythms are simply attended to in the auditory domain in the absence of motor production.

Europe's Corporate Governance Green Paper: Do Institutional Investors Matter?

The European Commission launched a Green Paper on corporate governance aimed largely at listed companies in April 2011. The Green Paper recognizes that institutional investors play a dominant role in the current financial markets, but it criticizes the short-term thinking and practice among these investors. Long-term and appropriate shareholder engagement is viewed as the linchpin of an effective corporate governance framework. The question arises, however, if institutional investors should be actively engaged if they lack the time, knowledge, and a financial incentive to do so. We introduce and briefly discuss “shareholder engagement costs” that policymakers should take into account when increasing shareholders’ rights and betting on institutional investors to protect companies against business failures. The engagement costs considered here are: (1) conventionalism/micro-management, (2) management distraction, (3) risk aversion and (4) lack of transparency.

Motor Practice Promotes Increased Activity in Brain Regions Structurally Disconnected After Subcortical Stroke

Background. Motor practice is an important component of neurorehabilitation. Imaging studies in healthy individuals show that dynamic brain activation changes with practice. Defining patterns of functional brain plasticity associated with motor practice following stroke could guide rehabilitation. Objective. The authors aimed to test whether practice-related changes in brain activity differ after stroke and to explore spatial relationships between activity changes and patterns of structural degeneration. Methods. They studied 10 patients at least 6 months after left-hemisphere subcortical strokes and 18 healthy controls. Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was acquired at baseline, and functional MRI (fMRI) was acquired during performance of a visuomotor tracking task before and after a 15-day period of practice of the same task. Results. Smaller short-term practice effects at baseline correlated with lower fractional anisotropy in the posterior limbs of the internal capsule (PLIC) bilaterally in patients (t > 3; cluster P < .05). After 15 days of motor practice a Group × Time interaction (z > 2.3; cluster P < .05) was found in the basal ganglia, thalamus, inferior frontal gyrus, superior temporal gyrus, and insula. In these regions, healthy controls showed decreases and patients showed increases in activity with practice. Some regions of interest had a loss of white matter connectivity at baseline. Conclusions. Performance gains with motor practice can be associated with increased activity in regions that have been either directly or indirectly impaired by loss of connectivity. These results suggest that neurorehabilitation interventions may be associated with compensatory adaptation of intact brain regions as well as enhanced activity in regions with impaired structural connectivity.

Rethinking professionalism: guardianship of land and resources

The rise of modern professions, and the concept of professionalism, usually has two sides. On the one hand, it can be seen as self-serving as it circumscribes practices, controls a knowledge base, controls entry into the occupation, demands public recognition of professional status and fixes the market for its services. On the other hand, built environment professions and professionalism also offer the promise of a covenant with society to protect it from unscrupulous, unfair or short-term practices through the provision of impartial advice and services. This ethical basis for professionalism is considered in the context of the property market, with a focus on valuation professionals. It is argued that if property professionals have a stewardship or guardian role for society and the built environment, then this means the right and a duty to challenge what ‘the client’ or ‘the market’ may seek. The property profession in general and valuation professionals in particular must find a new role in proactive ‘market-shaping’ which involves a re-examination of unquestioned assumptions and underlying fundamentals of current professional practices. L'essor des professions libérales modernes et le concept de professionnalisme présentent généralement un double aspect. D'un côté, cela peut être considéré comme intéressé, dans la mesure où cela permet de circonscrire les pratiques, de contrôler une base de connaissances, de contrôler l'accès au métier, d'exiger une reconnaissance publique du statut professionnel et de définir le marché correspondant aux prestations concernées. D'un autre côté, les professions libérales qui se préoccupent de l'environnement bâti et leur professionnalisme offrent également la promesse de s'engager envers la société à la protéger des pratiques malhonnêtes, déloyales ou à court terme par la fourniture de conseils et de services impartiaux. Cette base éthique du professionnalisme est envisagée dans le contexte du marché de l'immobilier, l'accent étant mis sur les professionnels de l'évaluation. Il est soutenu que si les professionnels de l'immobilier exercent un rôle d'intendant ou de gardien au bénéfice de la société et de l'environnement bâti, cela signifie alors le droit de remettre en question ce que « le client » ou « le marché » peut rechercher, et que c'est un devoir de le faire. La profession immobilière en général et les professionnels de l'évaluation en particulier doivent trouver un rôle nouveau en influençant le marché d'une manière proactive qui implique de réexaminer les hypothèses acceptées comme allant de soi et les fondamentaux sous-tendant les pratiques professionnelles actuelles. Mots clés: environnement bâti, éthique, pratiques intelligentes, professionnalisme, évaluation des biens immobiliers, intérêt public, intendance, valeurs

Rapid change of AM fungal community in a rain-fed wheat field with short-term plastic film mulching practice

Plastic film mulching (PFM) is a widely used agricultural practice in the temperate semi-arid Loess Plateau of China. However, how beneficial soil microbes, arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi in particular, respond to the PFM practice is not known. Here, a field experiment was performed to study the effects of a 3-month short-term PFM practice on AM fungi in plots planted with spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv. Dingxi-2) in the Loess Plateau. AM colonization, spore density, wheat spike weight, and grain phosphorus (P) content were significantly increased in the PFM treatments, and these changes were mainly attributable to changes in soil properties such as available P and soil moisture. Alkaline phosphatase activity was significantly higher in PFM soils, but levels of AM fungal-related glomalin were similar between treatments. A total of nine AM fungal phylotypes were detected in root samples based on AM fungal SSU rDNA analyses, with six and five phylotypes in PFM and no-PFM plots, respectively. Although AM fungal phylotype richness was not statistically different between treatments, the community compositions were different, with four and three specific phylotypes in the PFM and no-PFM plots, respectively. A significant and rapid change in AM fungal, wheat, and soil variables following PFM suggested that the functioning of the AM symbiosis had been changed in the wheat field under PFM. Future studies are needed to investigate whether PFM applied over a longer term has a similar effect on the AM fungal community and their functioning in an agricultural ecosystem.