Variations In Style Research Articles

Regional Variation in Carpal Tunnel Release Utilization, Reimbursement, Practice Styles, and Patient Populations: A Temporal Analysis

Background The purpose of this study was to evaluate changes in open carpal tunnel release (OCTR) and endoscopic carpal tunnel release (ECTR) utilization, reimbursement, and patient demographics in the Medicare population from 2013 to 2021 at national and regional levels. Materials and Methods The Medicare Physician & Other Practitioners database from 2013 to 2021 was queried to extract all instances of OCTR and ECTR. Utilization per 10,000 beneficiaries, inflation-adjusted reimbursement, and patient characteristics were extracted for OCTR and ECTR each year. Data were stratified by region based on US Census guidelines. Kruskal-Wallis tests and multivariable linear regressions were performed. Results From 2013 to 2021, national utilization per 10,000 beneficiaries increased by 6% for OCTR and by 50% for ECTR. In 2021, the Midwest had the greatest utilization of OCTR (29 of 10,000) and the lowest utilization of ECTR (7 of 10,000). Inflation-adjusted reimbursement declined for both OCTR and ECTR during the study period (10.3% and 11.8%, respectively), with the South having the lowest reimbursement for both procedures. The severity of patient comorbidity profiles and dual Medicare-Medicaid enrollees decreased for both procedures as well. Conclusion Both OCTR and ECTR utilization have increased, while inflation-adjusted reimbursement has decreased. Patient populations encompassed fewer dual Medicare-Medicaid enrollees, indicating surgeons may be more selective in operative indications. These findings should be addressed to ensure the economic sustainability of carpal tunnel release procedures and equitable access to quality hand care for all patients with Medicare. [ Orthopedics . 202x;4x(x):xx–xx.]

PortraitEmotion3D: A Novel Dataset and 3D Emotion Estimation Method for Artistic Portraiture Analysis

Facial Expression Recognition (FER) has been widely explored in realistic settings; however, its application to artistic portraiture presents unique challenges due to the stylistic interpretations of artists and the complex interplay of emotions conveyed by both the artist and the subject. This study addresses these challenges through three key contributions. First, we introduce the PortraitEmotion3D (PE3D) dataset, designed explicitly for FER tasks in artistic portraits. This dataset provides a robust foundation for advancing emotion recognition in visual art. Second, we propose an innovative 3D emotion estimation method that leverages three-dimensional labeling to capture the nuanced emotional spectrum depicted in artistic works. This approach surpasses traditional two-dimensional methods by enabling a more comprehensive understanding of the subtle and layered emotions often in artistic representations. Third, we enhance the feature learning phase by integrating a self-attention module, significantly improving facial feature representation and emotion recognition accuracy in artistic portraits. This advancement addresses this domain’s stylistic variations and complexity, setting a new benchmark for FER in artistic works. Evaluation of the PE3D dataset demonstrates our method’s high accuracy and robustness compared to existing state-of-the-art FER techniques. The integration of our module yields an average accuracy improvement of over 1% in recent FER systems. Additionally, combining our method with ESR-9 achieves a comparable accuracy of 88.3% on the FER+ dataset, demonstrating its generalizability to other FER benchmarks. This research deepens our understanding of emotional expression in art and facilitates potential applications in diverse fields, including human–computer interaction, security, healthcare diagnostics, and the entertainment industry.

Referenzketten und stilistische Variation in der Sekundarstufe

Abstract If an entity is referred to multiple times in a text, a reference chain is created. This chain is considered neutral or unmarked when it is structured as follows: eine Frau – die Frau – sie – sie – sie … (‘a woman – the woman – she – she – she…’) (Thurmair 2003). Most studies on referential coherence (including those related to language acquisition) focus on animate entities in texts. For older school pupils to handle different types of texts (e. g. reports, descriptions, explanations) adequately, the question arises as to how references are made to inanimate objects in texts and whether simple possibilities of stylistic variation are used. In this experimental study with secondary-school pupils (Grades 5 and 8) and university students, we elicited chains of references to inanimate entities (eine Tasche – die Tasche – sie, ‘a bag – the bag – it’) and investigated the unmarked structuring of these references (indefinite NP – definite NP – personal pronoun) and the degree of precision in the introductory nominal phrase in terms of composition and/or attributes (e. g. eine Handtasche, eine gelbe Tasche, eine gelbe Handtasche, ‘a handbag, a yellow bag, a yellow handbag’). We also explored whether potential for variation was exploited through partial recurrence (e. g. eine Handtasche – die Tasche, ‘a handbag – the bag’). Although all three groups preferred using neutral reference chains, there were clear differences in the degree of preference between the two groups of pupils, on the one hand, and the students, on the other. The groups also differed regarding their use of precision and the extent to which they varied references through partial recurrence. In addition, deviations in agreement between a pronoun and its previous mention were observed in some pupils with German as a second language who followed the semantic strategy of referring to inanimate entities using the neutral pronoun es (independent of the grammatical gender) (e. g. eine gelbe Tasche – die Tasche – *es). Another surprising finding can be seen in the student group. In an effort to express themselves diversely and eloquently, the students varied the personal and demonstrative pronouns within the reference chains without considering that demonstrative pronouns fulfil specific grammatical functions in texts (Diessel, 1999; Bosch & Umbach, 2007) and that incorrect use confuses the reader, potentially leading to misinterpretation. As analyses of textbooks have shown that referential coherence is largely neglected in German instruction (Averintseva-Klisch, Bryant & Peschel, 2019), the findings are hardly surprising. They demonstrate once again that more attention needs to be paid to this phenomenon in teacher training and in work on texts in schools.

Three Type-Scene Murder Stories in 2 Samuel 1, 3, and 4: David’s Accession Apology

This article discusses how the affinitive elements in 2 Samuel 1, 3, and 4 can be well-understood using type-scene concepts based on the concept of family resemblance and prototype theory. Applying the “type-scene” concept flexibly enables various arrangements of similar motifs and scenes, or even their absence, in the three murder stories, conveying associated messages. The repetitive motifs and scenes employed are the key characters “going out and coming back”; a background of death; killing a Saulide; mourning; judging or executing the killer; a “blood” curse; and elegy. The successive stylistic variations and modifications in conversation, narration, and elegy, in terms of motif alternations and changes in order, imply that, while David refrains from taking advantage and defends the Saulides’ honor, he treats Saul, Abner, and Ishbosheth differently according to their high and low political values. The increasingly fast pace of the narratives’ logical flow—variously determined by the length of conversation (in both dialogue and soliloquy), mourning, lamentation, and their changes in order and even their absence—indicates that, as the Saulide demise becomes gradually fatal, the narrator’s focus on their remaining members diminishes. Consequently, the establishment of David’s kingship based on his innocence is intensified.

Content-aware preserving image generation

Remarkable progress has been achieved in image generation with the introduction of generative models. However, precisely controlling the content in generated images remains a challenging task due to their fundamental training objective. This paper addresses this challenge by proposing a novel image generation framework explicitly designed to incorporate desired content in output images. The framework utilizes advanced encoding techniques, integrating subnetworks called content fusion and frequency encoding modules. The frequency encoding module first captures features and structures of reference images by exclusively focusing on selected frequency components. Subsequently, the content fusion module generates a content-guiding vector that encapsulates desired content features. During the image generation process, content-guiding vectors from real images are fused with projected noise vectors. This ensures the production of generated images that not only maintain consistent content from guiding images but also exhibit diverse stylistic variations. To validate the effectiveness of the proposed framework in preserving content attributes, extensive experiments are conducted on widely used benchmark datasets, including Flickr-Faces-High Quality, Animal Faces High Quality, and Large-scale Scene Understanding datasets.

Icelandic in late modernity: On language policy discourses, stylistic variation, and the fate of purism and standard language ideology

Abstract Social changes in late modernity have implications for the ways in which variation in Icelandic language use comes to be associated with different modes of communication, and for the labelling of forms in terms of “correctness” or “purity”. While a conception of “standard” still seems to prevail, there is continual transition as regards which particular linguistic traits and practices serve as manifestations of “standard language use”. A diachronic look at official language policies shows a gradual shift away from an ideal of preserving the traditional forms of Icelandic. A change took place around the turn of the millennium, with increased focus on domains of language use and the status of Icelandic as the national language. Currently, language-political discourses yet again suggest a broadened focus so that “the language” is being complemented by “the speakers” with an emphasis on human rights. Conflicts have emerged between the well-established “language-oriented” prescriptive practices, and the more recent “speaker-oriented” language planning efforts. But still the role of Icelandic as a national language and historical treasure seems to prevail, and in both camps, there are concerns that foreign languages pose a threat to Icelandic.

A systematic review of virtual elective programmes for medical students.

Clinical electives are a compulsory part of many medical courses, enabling students to gain exposure to foreign health systems. The COVID-19 pandemic led to a surge in the development in virtual elective programmes, for which there had been a sparse evidence base. This is the first systematic review assessing the implementation, advantages and disadvantages of virtual elective programmes for medical students. The systematic review was conducted in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. Databases were searched, capturing results from the past 10 years for original evaluations of electives where medical students engaged in a fully virtual programme with another institution, with no restrictions on location. Descriptive, quantitative and qualitative data were extracted by two independent reviewers. Fourteen articles were included for review. All the articles were published between 2020 and 2023. All studies were conducted in the United States of America. The average length of the virtual electives in the studies was 3 weeks, and a variety of teaching formats including virtual clinics, seminars and one-on-one meetings were implemented. Logistical considerations and challenges in delivering virtual electives included the variability in students' learning styles, reduction in patient interactions and technological challenges. Most included studies derived that these virtual electives would play a role in the future, possibly replacing in-person electives. Positive attributes of virtual electives included increasing diversity of social backgrounds, high student satisfaction and interest and reducing harms to the environment. However, further research is required to thoroughly evaluate the efficacy of virtual electives in medical education.

Adapting to Individual Differences: An Experimental Study of Language Evolution in Heterogeneous Populations.

Variations in language abilities, use, and production style are ubiquitous within any given population. While research on language evolution has traditionally overlooked the potential importance of such individual differences, these can have an important impact on the trajectory of language evolution and ongoing change. To address this gap, we use a group communication game for studying this mechanism in the lab, in which micro-societies of interacting participants develop and use artificial languages to successfully communicate with each other. Importantly, one participant in the group is assigned a keyboard with a limited inventory of letters (simulating a speech impairment that individuals may encounter in real life), forcing them to communicate differently than the rest. We test how languages evolve in such heterogeneous groups and whether they adapt to accommodate the unique characteristics of individuals with language idiosyncrasies. Our results suggest that language evolves differently in groups where some individuals have distinct language abilities, eliciting more innovative elements at the cost of reduced communicative success and convergence. Furthermore, we observed strong partner-specific accommodation to the minority individual, which carried over to the group level. Importantly, the degree of group-wide adaptation was not uniform and depended on participants' attachment to established language forms. Our findings provide compelling evidence that individual differences can permeate and accumulate within a linguistic community, ultimately driving changes in languages over time. They also underscore the importance of integrating individual differences into future research on language evolution.

Pengaruh Gaya Kepemimpinan, Kepuasan Kerja dan Komitmen Organisasi terhadap Kinerja Karyawan pada Dealer Honda MPM Motor Kupang

This research aims to determine the influence of leadership style, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment simultaneously and partially on employee performance at the MPM Motor Kupang Honda Dealer. The techniques used in collecting data were questionnaires and interviews. The questionnaire used in this research was 36 questions consisting of 10 questions regarding employee performance, 10 questions about leadership style, 8 questions about job satisfaction and 8 questions about organizational commitment. Interviews are used as supporting data in this research, especially regarding employee conditions and comfort. The results of the research reveal that simultaneously and partially there is a significant and positive influence between the variables of leadership style, job satisfaction and organizational commitment on employee performance at the MPM Motor Kupang Honda Dealer.

The Influence Of Job Satisfaction And Work Discipline On Employee Performance At The Regional Drinking Water Company (PDAM) Tirta Jeneberang Gowa District

The aim of this study is to find out the influence of leadership style, supervision and work discipline on the performance of officials in the Civil Occupation and Registration Service of Barru District. The object of this study is all 62 respondents. This research is quantitative research. Data collection techniques are done by means of observation, lifting or questionnaire and documentation. The main variables underlying this study are Leadership Style variables as X1, Supervision as X2, Working Discipline as X3, and Officer Performance as Y. While the technical analysis used in the research uses Validity Test, Reliability Test, Classical Assumption Test and Dual Linear Regression Test using the SPSS 27 program. The results of this study showed a positive relationship between the leadership style (X1) and the employer (Y) with a thitung value -2,627 > ttable 0,250 with a Significant Level of 0,011, supervision (X2) with the performance of the employee (Y), with a Thitung value of 3,408 > table 0,250, with a significant rate of 0,001 and work discipline (X3) that contributed positively to the performance (Y). With a thiting value of 2,243 > t table 0,250 and a significant 0.29 in the Population and Civil Registration Service of the District of Barru.

A robust solution for recognizing accurate handwritten text extraction using quantum convolutional neural network and transformer models

Handwritten text extraction from images is challenging due to the variability of styles in handwriting, quality of images, and noise backgrounds. Existing methods often struggle to achieve high accuracy, hindering document analysis, optical character recognition, and data entry applications. We propose a novel approach to improve extraction accuracy, combining Quantum convolutional neural networks (QCNN) and transformer-based neural networks (TextExtractNet) named QTEN. Our method leverages the strengths of both models to recognize and extract handwritten text from images. Experimental results show that our approach achieves a 96 % accuracy rate, outperforming existing methods. This breakthrough has significant implications for automating document processing, data entry, and related applications. Our method's robustness and accuracy make it a valuable tool for industries relying on handwritten document processing, such as healthcare, finance, and government.

AnimeSketchNet: Integrating traditional sketching and anime art via an innovative dataset

Abstract. Recent advancements in text-to-image synthesis have shown promise, yet many models struggle with generalizability and adaptability, particularly in specialized genres like anime sketches. To overcome these challenges, we introduce AnimeSketchNet, a novel framework designed to enhance model performance by effectively capturing the complexity and stylistic variability unique to anime. AnimeSketchNet leverages a diverse collection of anime sketch styles with varying levels of detail, enabling the model to learn and adapt to the distinct artistic style of anime. Our dual-branch architecture, featuring a decoupled attention mechanism, seamlessly assimilates textual descriptions along with visual features, producing high-quality anime sketch that are both detailed and faithful the reference sketch. Experimental results demonstrate that AnimeSketchNet surpasses existing state-of-the-art models in both qualitative and quantitative evaluations. This work significantly advances text-to-image synthesis by offering a powerful and flexible tool tailored specifically to the unique demands of anime art.

Large-scale variability in style and magnitude of footwall rift-related unconformities, northern Carnarvon Basin, offshore NW Australia

Fault-scarp degradation complexes record rift-related erosion of normal fault scarps. At the scale of an individual fault segment, the magnitude and distribution of erosion are related to the total and along-strike variability in fault throw. However, previous studies on degradation complexes focused on one type of rift-related erosional unconformity, with the factors controlling the development, magnitude and style of footwall erosion at a far larger scale (i.e. several fault blocks) being poorly constrained. This study uses high-resolution subsurface data to constrain the timing, magnitude and style of footwall erosion across the NW Shelf of Australia. By doing so, we test conceptual and numerical model predictions for the development of rift-related unconformities. We show that development of footwall erosion complexes is dependent on the occurrence and duration of footwall exposure and that fault throw and footwall uplift control the magnitude of erosion. Furthermore, the style of footwall erosion depends on the driving process(es), with gravitational instabilities resulting in cuspate footwall crest erosional surfaces, whereas peneplain-style surfaces develop in response to wave-driven erosion dictated by the base level. The results of this study can help refine rift-related fault evolution and the effects of sea-level changes in tectonostratigraphic models of rift basins.

Dolsko – Spodnje Škovce and a new insight into the settlement, chronology, ceramic style(s), and subsistence strategies of the Late Neolithic Sava group in Slovenia

Radiocarbon dates, analysis of ceramic finds, animal bones, fruits/seeds and wood (charcoal) from settlement features of the Sava group of the Lengyel Culture at the site of Dolsko – Spodnje Škovce in central Slovenia are presented and discussed in this paper. The aim of the study was to place the excavated material culture in its regional and supra-regional context in order to improve the understanding of Late Neolithic settlement features, chronology, pottery style(s) and subsistence strategies in settlements throughout the area of distribution of the Sava group. This is the first synthesis of archaeobotanical and archaeozoological data from the 5th millennium cal BC sites in Slovenia, including the evaluation and comparison of plant macro-remains and animal bones, and the first synthesis of data on technological and typological aspects of pottery production in the settlements obtained using the same analytical approach. Uncertainties regarding the chronology of different variations of a pottery style and subsistence strategies are emphasized.

Study of archaeological ceramics from the north coast of Peru by EDXRF and exploratory multivariate analysis

This article presents the first results for elemental composition of 193 fragments ceramic from four sites located in Ventarrón-Collud archaeological complex, Peru. The results from EDXRF and multivariate analysis indicated statistical similarity among four groups of ceramic fragments, selected by remarkable stylistic variation, collected from different archaeological space/time contexts. The correspondence in the elemental composition of the ceramic paste of the artifacts corroborates the hypothesis that similar raw materials were used consistently throughout the entire occupation of this archaeological complex.

The Influence Of AI Text-To-Image Technologies On Modern Creative Practices

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has revolutionized numerous fields, with the Text-to-Image (T2I) generation, mainly for artists and designers. There are several AI T2I models out there such as DALL-E 3, Imagen, CogView2, and Midjourney which can turn the given prompt into an image, and these days they also offer variations in style and adjustments as well, as shown in Microsoft Copilot. The research methodology reviews current T2I models: capabilities, limitations, and their influence on the Art and design industry. It also includes some interviews with artists and designers to understand the applications and challenges of Text-to-Image models practically. AI T2I models are effective and adaptable. Individuals without drawing skills can create art using basic prompts.Challenges exist in the T2I industry despite the models' success and quick operations.

Parenting Styles and Their Impact on the Emotional Intelligence of Adolescents at SMKN 1 Padang

This study aims to evaluate the impact of parenting styles on the emotional intelligence of adolescents at SMKN 1 Padang. Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize, understand, and manage one's own emotions and the emotions of others. Parenting styles play a fundamental role in the development of emotional intelligence in adolescents. The research method applied is quantitative with a survey approach. Data were collected from questionnaires distributed to 208 students at SMKN 1 Padang. Data analysis was performed using multiple linear regression to examine the impact of parenting styles on emotional intelligence. The analysis results obtained an F value of 92.616 with a probability (P) of 0.000 < 0.005. This means that the regression coefficients of the parenting style variables collectively influence emotional intelligence. This explains that Ha is accepted and H0 is rejected. Overall, parenting styles contribute 57% to the variance in emotional intelligence of adolescents at SMKN 1 Padang. The significance values for authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive parenting styles are 0.004 (<0.05), 0.000 (<0.05), and 0.000 (<0.05), respectively, indicating that these parenting styles have a significant impact on emotional intelligence. The study results show that authoritative parenting style has a positive effect on adolescents' emotional intelligence. Conversely, authoritarian and permissive parenting styles have a negative impact. The influence of authoritative parenting style on emotional intelligence is 52%, permissive parenting style is 3%, and authoritarian parenting style is 2%. This study contributes to understanding how different parenting styles affect adolescents' emotional intelligence. The findings can serve as a reference for parents, educators, and policymakers in developing effective parenting strategies to enhance emotional intelligence and reduce juvenile delinquency.

Pengaruh Sistem Informasi Akuntansi dan Gaya Kepemimpinan Terhadap Kinerja Karyawan Pada PT. Citra Abadi Sejati

This research aims to analyze the influence of Accounting Information Systems and leadership style on employee performance at PT Citra Abadi Sejati This study is associative in nature and utilizes quantitative data obtained from questionnaires distributed to employees The research population includes all employees of PT Citra Abadi Sejati, totaling 1,561 employees. Sampling using purposive sampling method based on specific criteria resulted in a sample of 66 individuals. Hypothesis testing was conducted through partial and simultaneous tests The results indicate that the accounting information system has a positive and significant impact on employee performance, thus accepting H1 and rejecting H0. On the contrary, for leadership style variables, it is shown that leadership style does not have a positive and significant influence on employee performance, thus rejecting H2 and accepting H0 Meanwhile, simultaneously, SIA and leadership style have a positive and significant influence on employee performance, thus accepting H3 and rejecting H0.

DC2T: Disentanglement-Guided Consolidation and Consistency Training for Semi-Supervised Cross-Site Continual Segmentation.

Continual Learning (CL) is recognized to be a storage-efficient and privacy-protecting approach for learning from sequentially-arriving medical sites. However, most existing CL methods assume that each site is fully labeled, which is impractical due to budget and expertise constraint. This paper studies the Semi-Supervised Continual Learning (SSCL) that adopts partially-labeled sites arriving over time, with each site delivering only limited labeled data while the majority remains unlabeled. In this regard, it is challenging to effectively utilize unlabeled data under dynamic cross-site domain gaps, leading to intractable model forgetting on such unlabeled data. To address this problem, we introduce a novel Disentanglement-guided Consolidation and Consistency Training (DC2T) framework, which roots in an Online Semi-Supervised representation Disentanglement (OSSD) perspective to excavate content representations of partially labeled data from sites arriving over time. Moreover, these content representations are required to be consolidated for site-invariance and calibrated for style-robustness, in order to alleviate forgetting even in the absence of ground truth. Specifically, for the invariance on previous sites, we retain historical content representations when learning on a new site, via a Content-inspired Parameter Consolidation (CPC) method that prevents altering the model parameters crucial for content preservation. For the robustness against style variation, we develop a Style-induced Consistency Training (SCT) scheme that enforces segmentation consistency over style-related perturbations to recalibrate content encoding. We extensively evaluate our method on fundus and cardiac image segmentation, indicating the advantage over existing SSCL methods for alleviating forgetting on unlabeled data.

Pragmatic Analysis in Digital Communication: A Case Study of Language Use on Social Media

This study investigates the pragmatic strategies employed in digital communication, specifically within social media platforms. As the use of social media continues to rise, understanding how users navigate language and meaning in these contexts becomes increasingly vital. Utilizing a qualitative approach, the research analyzes user interactions on platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook to identify key pragmatic strategies, including politeness, implicature, and contextual cues. The findings reveal that social media users employ diverse strategies to convey messages effectively in an environment characterized by brevity and immediacy. Additionally, the research highlights significant cultural influences on language use, showcasing variations in communication styles, humour, and politeness norms across different cultural backgrounds. These insights underscore the importance of cultural awareness in fostering effective cross-cultural communication. Ultimately, this research contributes to the field of pragmatics by enhancing our understanding of the interplay between language, culture, and digital communication. The study also offers practical recommendations for social media users to improve their communication effectiveness, facilitating more respectful and meaningful interactions in the digital space. As digital communication evolves, further exploration of emerging trends and challenges in this area is essential for adapting to the dynamic landscape of human interaction.