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In the present era of evidence-based medicine (EBM), integrating best research evidence into the clinical practice necessitates developing skills to critically evaluate and analyze the scientific literature. Critical appraisal is the process of systematically examining research evidence to assess its validity, results, and relevance to inform clinical decision-making. All components of a clinical research article need to be appraised as per the study design and conduct. As research bias can be introduced at every step in the flow of a study leading to erroneous conclusions, it is essential that suitable measures are adopted to mitigate bias. Several tools have been developed for the critical appraisal of scientific literature, including grading of evidence to help clinicians in the pursuit of EBM in a systematic manner. In this review, we discuss the broad framework for the critical appraisal of a clinical research paper, along with some of the relevant guidelines and recommendations.

Collecting political papers related to women requires archivists to adopt a broader perspective than does collecting political papers in general. Special Collections at the University of Maryland, College Park, has collected the papers of women state legislators and other political materials related to women and women's issues for almost forty years and serves as one institutional example of documenting women in politics, more specifically women state legislators. This article identifies the unique challenges related to collecting the papers of women state legislators and provides general recommendations for developing basic collecting and selection criteria that incorporate critical thinking about women in elected office. A brief discussion about research use of the papers of women state legislators follows to illustrate how researchers utilize or neglect these collections for various reasons. Finally, this article demonstrates that even though women appear to be entering the political mainstream, archivists need to be continually vigilant of the complexities inherent in documenting women and other underrepresented groups in the American political landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The quality of published research is highly variable and it is critically important for the busy clinicians to be able to appraise published papers and make up their own mind about the evidence that is presented in the papers read. To be able to do this reader does not necessarily need to be an expert in research methodology or a statistician. We in this article present some basic information and a list of questions which when asked systematically would help the readers appraise a scientific paper. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background and objective: The living systematic review (LSR) approach is based on ongoing surveillance of the literature and continual updating. Most currently available guidance documents address the conduct, reporting, publishing, and appraisal of systematic reviews (SRs), but are not suitable for LSRs per se and miss additional LSR-specific considerations. In this scoping review, we aim to systematically collate methodological guidance literature on how to conduct, report, publish, and appraise the quality of LSRs and identify current gaps in guidance. Methods: A standard scoping review methodology was used. We searched MEDLINE (Ovid), EMBASE (Ovid), and The Cochrane Library on August 28, 2021. As for searching gray literature, we looked for existing guidelines and handbooks on LSRs from organizations that conduct evidence syntheses. The screening was conducted by two authors independently in Rayyan, and data extraction was done in duplicate using a pilot-tested data extraction form in Excel. Data was extracted according to four pre-defined categories for (i) conducting, (ii) reporting, (iii) publishing, and (iv) appraising LSRs. We mapped the findings by visualizing overview tables created in Microsoft Word. Results: Of the 21 included papers, methodological guidance was found in 17 papers for conducting, in six papers for reporting, in 15 papers for publishing, and in two papers for appraising LSRs. Some of the identified key items for (i) conducting LSRs were identifying the rationale, screening tools, or re-revaluating inclusion criteria. Identified items of (ii) the original PRISMA checklist included reporting the registration and protocol, title, or synthesis methods. For (iii) publishing, there was guidance available on publication type and frequency or update trigger, and for (iv) appraising, guidance on the appropriate use of bias assessment or reporting funding of included studies was found. Our search revealed major evidence gaps, particularly for guidance on certain PRISMA items such as reporting results, discussion, support and funding, and availability of data and material of a LSR. Conclusion: Important evidence gaps were identified for guidance on how to report in LSRs and appraise their quality. Our findings were applied to inform and prepare a PRISMA 2020 extension for LSR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to investigate the role of deontic modality as a strategic means of mitigating evaluative meanings within and across texts. Evaluative meanings concern the function of language as used to express the speaker's or writer's subjective opinions, and such meanings have been extensively analysed through Appraisal framework. The framework has been used to account for evaluative/attitudinal meanings in texts, as well as dealing with the interaction of voices as one way through which speakers and writers can attribute evaluations to third parties in order to downplay or distance themselves from the evaluations that are expressed. Within the literature on Appraisal, however, the potential for deontic modality to mitigate subjective evaluation in texts has largely been overlooked and, thus, under-analysed. In this paper therefore, we develop a systems network for analysing the role of deontic modality and its interaction with other features as a tool for text analysis. We illustrate the distinctions in the network with examples of contrasting values from hard news stories that covered the 2011 public sector workers' strike in Botswana and finish up with a short textual analysis to demonstrate how the consideration of deontic modality as a strategy of mitigation can not only enhance our understanding of how evaluative meanings are downplayed or overridden in texts, but also of how the distinctions between text types themselves can be blurred. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Al-Adab / Al-ādāb is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The introduction of autonomous vehicles (AVs) has the potential to drastically change society, planning, design, and development strategies. This study uses the PRISMA protocol to carry out a systematic literature review, focusing on the backcasting method as an analytic tool. By examining. 21 studies published between 2003 and 2024, this paper highlights the phases of backcasting: visioning, policy packaging, and appraisal, and identifies critical factors necessary for the successful integration of AVs. Visioning for future driverless cities includes high-quality urban areas, active mobility, and innovative developments. Policies and Packaging suggested a focus on restricting vehicular access, transit-oriented development, and encouraging public transportation. Appraisal reveals skepticism about the positive impacts of AVs, urging policies that limit access to urban areas and promote sustainable modes of transportation. The main contribution of this study lies in its comprehensive application of backcasting to AV implementation, offering a structured approach to envisioning future urban scenarios, formulating supportive policies, and evaluating their impact. This analysis provides a solid foundation for future research, urging us to explore the intersection between AVs, citizen participation, and environmental sustainability to achieve more efficient and sustainable cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A portfolio of supporting information (SI) reflecting a doctor's entire medical practice is now a central aspect of UK appraisal for revalidation. Medical revalidation, introduced in 2012, is an assessment of a doctor's competence and passing results in a five yearly license to practice medicine. It assesses of a doctor's professional development, workplace performance and reflection and aims to provide assurance that doctors are up-to-date and fit to practice. The dominant assessment mechanism is a portfolio. The content of the revalidation portfolio has been increasingly prescribed and the assessment of the SI is a fundamental aspect of the appraisal process which ultimately allows Responsible Officers (ROs) to make recommendations on revalidation. ROs, themselves doctors, were the first to undergo UK revalidation. This qualitative study explored the perceptions of ROs and their appraisers about the use of this portfolio of evidence in a summative revalidation appraisal. Methods: 28 purposefully sampled London ROs were interviewed following their revalidation appraisal and 17 of their appraisers participated in focus groups and interviews. Thematic analysis was used to identify commonalities and differences of experience. Results: SI was mostly easy to provide but there were challenges in gathering certain aspects. ROs did not understand in what quantities they should supply SI or what it should look like. Appraisers were concerned about making robust judgements based on the evidence supplied. A lack of reflection from the process of collating SI and preparing for appraisal was noted and learning came more from the appraisal interview itself. Conclusions: More explicit guidance must be available to both appraisee and appraiser about what SI is required, how much, how it should be used and, how it will be assessed. The role of SI in professional learning and revalidation must be clarified and further empirical research is required to examine how best to use this evidence to make judgments as part of this type of appraisal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper proposes a brief analysis of the main elements that, on a theoretical, normative and situational basis, affect the value of properties placed as collateral for loans, with particular reference to the value they assume in the event that they are affected by an enforced procedure instead of being subject to normal sale, in free market conditions. Starting from the classic analytical estimate of the fair market value of a real estate asset in free market conditions, the paper will define the principles the appraiser has to follow to quantify the value of the asset from which to start the judicial auction. Considering the regulatory mechanisms in place in Italy, the paper will put in evidence how a value calculated for an execution sale of a property occurring in a foreclosure process is considerably far from its fair market value and even more from its final judicial value, considered as the amount that will be recovered at the end of the sale of the property by judicial auction. For debtors and creditors, the significant differences between fair market, execution and judicial values become an increasingly topical issue in the face of the growing number of default and distress of loans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to explore polarization in the discourse of social media commentators over crimes of Revenge Porn. Revenge porn refers to "the nonconsensual sharing of intimate images" (Bond and Tyrrell 2021, 2166), videos, or other intimate material, which are weaponized against its victims. As with other crimes, revenge porn cases are highly discussed on social media, where users might (a) reproduce prejudice and stigma against victims or, contrarily, (b) resist victimblaming and shaming ideologies as a form of activism and call for empathy (Garcés-Conejos Blitvich and Bou-Franch 2019; Palomino-Manjón 2022). In light of this, this paper examines the discursive construction of the phenomenon of revenge porn and the evaluations proposed of victims and perpetrators on the social network YouTube with the aim of unveiling conflicting ideologies online. To this end, the present study analyzes a corpus of 14,000 comments (ca. 411,000 words) from four different YouTube videos tackling revenge porn cases. The paper adopts a Corpus-Assisted Discourse Studies (CADS) approach (Partington et al. 2013) and uses Sketch Engine to analyze the corpus. Additionally, a more detailed analysis of evaluative resources and linguistic patterns is carried out. Results show that polarized understandings of revenge porn abound in the corpus. Specifically, victim-blaming ideologies are discursively concealed, whereas traditional ideologies regarding sex are overtly encoded. Moreover, male users affiliate with newer constructions of masculinity and dissociate from the illegal actions attributed to perpetrators. Women/victims are generally derogated for not conforming to societal views of common-sensical sexual behavior or praised for their strength in standing social judgment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examined the strategies put in place by Lagos State Public Procurement Agency in the implementation of public procurement policy. The paper utilised primary and secondary sources of data. Primary data were collected solely through the administration of questionnaires on the respondents. The study population 1,020 comprised the staff members from ministries, and agency that monitors the implementation of procurement policy in the state, Lagos State Public Procurement Agency (LSPPA). Proportionate random sampling technique was used in selecting a sample size of 154 respondents representing 15% of the study population. Secondary data were obtained from books, academic journals, official document of LSPPA and the internet. Data collected were analysed using percentage, frequency, and (RII) Relative Importance Index. The results of the study showed that the strategies put in place by Lagos State Procurement Agency; such as establishment of a threshold (52.6%, rank 7th), constitution of contract performance audit committee (63%, rank 9.5th), supervision of the deliveries (69.5%, rank 9.5th), and creation of a procurement officer's desk (57.8%, rank 8th) were not adequately substantial strategies put in place in monitoring the implementation of public procurement policy in Lagos state. Moreover, the paper revealed strategies that were adequately substantial which were put in place by Lagos State Public Procurement Agency in the implementation of public procurement law, such as composition of technical review committee (79.9%, rank 1st), appraisal of procurement plan for procuring entities (73.3%, rank 2nd), setting of fair pricing standards and benchmarks (61%, rank 6th), strategic oversight on the contracts (65.6%, rank 5th), keeping of contractors' database for proper identification (65.6%, rank 4th), publication of details of major contracts in the State (69.5%, rank 3rd) significantly improved accountability, proficiency, efficacy among the ministries selected. The study therefore, conclude that the strategies put in place by LSPPA, Lagos State Public Procurement Agency in the implementation of public procurement law in the state is substantial, and apt which ensures that procurement law of the State is followed. It was further evident from six claims affirmation as against four claims that refuted it respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this research is to determine the correlation between supply chain visibility, supply chain sustainability and the implementation of new technologies in the supply chain domain. Its significance is huge as it opens new roads of understanding the above correlation in order to assist supply chain managers to adapt to more sustainable supply chain operations This research is following the systematic literature review approach. Therefore, is following specific methods/frameworks that include a systematic screening process with inclusive/exclusive criteria, the implementation of the SALSA method, the CASP checklist, the PRISMA 2009 statement checklist with 3 items, while the findings were divided into 4 major thematic categories. The findings highlighted a strong indirect correlation between supply chain visibility and supply chain sustainability. This correlation is facilitated via the implementation of new technologies, like RFIDs, blockchain, A.I. etc. Although a lot have been written in terms of supply chain visibility and sustainability and of course, about the new technologies, their combination in the light of the strong correlation between visibility and sustainability in a supply chain have not been discussed a lot till now. The implications of the research, from a managerial point of view, are huge as they can be the springboard for the development of new approaches/operational frameworks towards more sustainable supply chains. Until now, supply chain visibility, although was a priority for supply chain professionals, was not implemented with an eye in supply chain sustainability, but instead was focused more on operational aspects. Now, with the use of new technologies, both are possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enabling people to be socially included is a high-priority goal for many governments but monetised benefit measures applicable to initiatives intended to reduce social exclusion risk are lacking in land use transport, and other, policy arenas. In settings where the decision-making process seeks guidance from cost-benefit analysis, this is likely to disadvantage initiatives intended to reduce exclusion. This is a particular problem for public transport services intended to enable people to access more of the opportunities available in their society ('social transit'). This paper develops a monetised measure of the value of improved mobility as it contributes to reducing risk of social exclusion, showing this to make a material difference to benefit estimates from social transit service improvements. It also develops monetised benefit estimates for some other potential pathways for reducing risk of social exclusion, particularly changes in bridging and bonding social capital, sense of community, subjective wellbeing and neighbourhood disadvantage. The research thus provides an opportunity to significantly strengthen appraisal tools linked to reducing social exclusion, which should encourage more integrated approaches to reducing exclusion and improve implementation prospects for initiatives with that purpose. Reduced social exclusion is a likely outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Akademika is the property of Akademika and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article presents a discussion paper on the equation of happy people with their health. Researchers A. Zautra and A. Hempel suggest that the most significant determinants of quality of life are happiness and health. Increasing the effectiveness of an individual in coping with strategies and enhancing his or her sense of self-efficacy can improve both mental and physical health.

This paper aims to assess the level of awareness of safety precautions in the use of extension cords in Ho Municipality in Ghana. The relevance of this study is to provide an understanding of the awareness level of safety measures likely to lead to a significant reduction in incidents of domestic fire outbreaks when using an extension cord. A cross-sectional research was carried out in the Ho Municipality between February and April 2022. Six hundred and one (601) individuals were chosen from houses using a random selection method. A standardised questionnaire was used to gather data, and then entered and analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) V.16. Descriptive statistics, Binary logistic regression analysis with a 0.05 p-value and the adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI), Relative Importance Index (RII), and the Sample T-test were used to examine the significance of connections. Among the participants, there is a low level of awareness of extension cord ratings and standard labels from autonomous testing facilities. The participants' knowledge of awareness was significantly related to gender; [0.722 (95% (CI): 1.476 - 2.869), p = 0.001 < (0.05)]. Again, most participants overload the extension cord during usage and practice poor safety measures that could result in a fire outbreak. The study suggests that users should purchase extension cords that have been endorsed by an autonomous testing laboratory and fully be educated on the safety procedures that will aid in safeguarding lives and property by both government and non-governmental agencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Fórum Lingüístico is the property of Forum Linguistico and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper reiterates the importance of the role of multisource feedback (MSF) in continuing medical education/continuing professional development (CME/CPD) and its impact on doctors' performance and patient experience globally. It summarises a unique initiative of robust utilisation of internationally recognised multisource feedback tools in an outpatient child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS) in Qatar. The process involved the effective adoption and administering of the General Medical Council's (GMC) self-assessment questionnaire (SQ), patient questionnaire (PQ), and colleague questionnaire (CQ) followed by the successful incorporation of these tools in CME/CPD. The original version of the PQ questionnaire and the instructions to the patient document were translated into Arabic through the blind back-translation technique. This initiative of introducing gold-standard MSF tools and processes into clinical practice, among other quality-improvement projects, has contributed to the improvement of service standards and doctors' clinical practice. Patient satisfaction was measured through the annual patient experience analysis using the Experience of Service Questionnaire (ESQ) whereas changes in doctors' performance were evaluated by comparing annual appraisal scores before and after implementation of this initiative. We have demonstrated that when MSF is obtained impartially and transparently using recognised and valid tools, it can improve patient experience and enhance doctors' performance [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the role and significance of Interpersonal language meta-function in understanding and constructing language use and functions among language users in a business context in English and Central-Kurdish languages. In analyzing entrepreneurs' public speeches, the researchers employ the descriptive and qualitative approach with the content analysis. The instrument used in this study is to examine the qualitative exploratory data among entrepreneurs' public speech in business discourse in English and Central-Kurdish. The paper attempts to answer the following questions; What is the dominant mood type among the entrepreneurs in English and Central- Kurdish in business discourse? How does the use and selection of the personal pronoun by entrepreneurs in English and Central-Kurdish influence the interpersonal meta-function? and lastly, What are the frequency and occurrence of Attitudinal mode in the public speech of entrepreneurs concerning Type and possible Polarity? The findings show the information about the distribution of the results in regard to the mood types, the use and selection of personal pronouns and the frequencies of each attitudinal mode in an entrepreneur's public speech in English and Central Kurdish quantitatively. The study reveals that the prominent type of mood is declarative mood, besides the use and selection of the Personal Systems play a significant role in which the speaker expresses his attitude, influence and maintaining friendship and intimacy with the audience. The dominant personal pronoun is first personal system and the positive Affect mode exceeds other attitudinal modes both in English and Central-Kurdish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The discursive practices of individual academic disciplines differ in many ways, which is why numerous studies of academic discourse adopt cross-disciplinary perspectives to explore the character and extent of those differences. Less attention has, however, been given to interdisciplinary discourses which incorporate the findings and/or research methods from a number of disciplines. This paper focuses on the discourse of one of the new critical interdisciplinarities: posthumanism. More specifically, it examines how posthumanist discourse integrates knowledge produced by the soft and hard sciences (as well as other sources) to build its perspective on animals and their relations with humans. Using Martin and White's (2005) appraisal framework to study knowledge claims collected from selected scholarly monographs adopting a posthumanist perspective, this study demonstrates that posthumanist claims referring to biological knowledge and experiential evidence tend to contain neutral, positive and endorsing formulations, while the knowledge from the soft sciences is reported in more critical ways, which is consistent with the aims of critical interdisciplinarities, i.e. questioning and transforming the dominant knowledge structure within different disciplines. Additionally, this paper provides evidence of the importance of popular science within interdisciplinary research in the humanities. It also sheds some light on the rhetorical practices within the scholarly monograph as a genre, particularly concerning the relative flexibility of its discursive conventions in comparison with those expected from a research article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the recontexualisation of issues surrounding NAPLAN test in the media through the lens of Systemic Functional Linguistics. In particular, this paper considers interpersonal meanings shared by journalists or media regarding the construal of NAPLAN test in Australian context. To obtain a comprehensive view regarding the construal, Appraisal analysis is deployed. Two different texts about a controversy of NAPLAN test in Australia are selected to be analysed: a hard news story and a comment piece. In addition to text analysis, an image accompanying the hard news story and a cartoon relating to the controversy of NAPLAN test are analysed to find out the realisation of meanings across two semiotic modes (text and images). The results suggest that there are distinct patterns of realisation of evaluative meanings in these two texts. On the one hand, the hard news story tends to use indirect evaluation of either judgment or appreciation when dealing with the issue. On the other hand, evaluative meanings shared throughout the comment piece tend to be direct, negatively evaluating NAPLAN test and the educational system pertinent to the testing policy. In terms of text-image relations, results of analyses suggest that both texts and images orient readers to align with shared values regarding the construal of the controversial NAPLAN test in the Australian context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Culture, Language & Representation / Cultura, Lenguaje y Representación is the property of Universitat Jaume I and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Literatura y Lingüística is the property of Universidad Catolica Cardenal Raul Silva Henriquez and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

According to recent estimates (Reuters), the cost of implementing the sustainable development goals of Agenda 2030 will be USD 176 trillion. This amount seems unattainable, even when considering the public resources currently available to governments that are part of the United Nations. It is undoubtedly necessary to involve the private financial sector, within the so-called finance for sustainable development. To achieve the SDGs, it may be also necessary to schedule local-level initiatives and actions that consider the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria, which can be used to source forms of private finance for sustainable development and contribute to the implementation of the SDGs. Based on these observations, this article deals with the study of clearly defined parameters: (1) the factors that should be considered when assessing the sustainability of a (local) real-estate project and, in particular, of a housing project, in order for the project to be considered sustainable and participate, albeit pro rata, in achieving one (or more) of the eleven SDG sub-goals; and (2) funding opportunities in the world of sustainable-development finance. The specific goal of the research contribution presented in this paper was to use the Delphi method to define a set of local-level evaluation criteria and indicators for real-estate projects, specifically housing projects, with an ESG matrix and in line with some of the SDG 11 targets, considering the Florence Metropolitan Area as a case study. The application of the Delphi method to the case study made it possible to test the usability of this method for the definition of the criteria and indicators, at the local level, for assessing the level of implementation of the SDGs. Specifically, a set of 48 criteria and 74 indicators were defined for assessing the consistency of housing projects with SDG 11 and ESG criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stress is in the nature of work, employees, teams, and organizations. Some speak up under stress, whereas others keep silent. Given that employee voice has long been recognized to enhance high-quality decisions and organizational effectiveness, understanding conditions under which employees practice voice is important. In this article, we combine appraisal theory, prospect theory, and threat-rigidity thesis so as to enrich our understanding of the relationship between stressors and voice. In so doing, our theory paper integrates threatrigidity thesis, prospect theory, and appraisal theory on the basis of the interaction between cognition and emotion, and it explores the detailed cognition-emotionbehavior (voice) relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thailand became a military dictatorship in May 2014, after the army deposed the democratically elected government. After being chastised for his lack of legitimacy and appeasing his opposition, Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha began to give official interviews to the international press in his second year in office and intermittently delivered the mandatory live broadcast address to the public. This paper focuses on English translations of Prayut's 2015 interview with Al-Jazeera and his 2020 televised address. The former is characterised by an impromptu speech that demonstrates his informal speaking style, whereas the latter is a well-scripted address. Using the appraisal framework (Martin & Rose, 2007; Munday, 2012) to analyse both translations, the paper proposes negotiator as an additional resource for examining the speaker's attitude and the translator's evaluative choices in the English written version. This investigation demonstrates the translator's active mediation in both subtitles for media presentation and official translation for national address: maintaining applause for the ruling government while negatively evaluating its critics; modifying the force of attitude; removing any improper features in the premier's manner of speaking. Despite differences in time and commission, the study argues that both translations support and sustain the Thai government's aspiration of gaining international attention in order to improve their post-coup image or save the face of the nation's 'saviour', who staged the coup to help the Thai people from the political dispute. Furthermore, the findings on negotiator can be used to inform quality translation training and practice, particularly the translator's decision-making regarding spoken features in political speeches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The paper proposes a brief analysis of the main elements that, on a theoretical, normative and situational basis, affect the value of properties placed as collateral for loans, with particular reference to the value they assume in the event that they are affected by an enforced procedure instead of being subject to normal sale, in free market conditions. Starting from the classic analytical estimate of the fair market value of a real estate asset in free market conditions, the paper will quantify the value that the asset should have when the appraiser has to indicate the value from which to start the judicial auction. Considering the regulatory mechanisms in place in Italy, the paper will put in evidence how a value calculated for an execution sale of a property occurring in a foreclosure process is considerably far from its fair market value and even more from its final judicial value, considered as the amount that will be recovered at the end of the sale of the property by judicial auction. For both debtors and creditors, the significant differences between fair market, execution and judicial values become an increasingly topical issue in the face of the growing number of default and distress of loans.

Abstract Background and objective The living systematic review (LSR) approach is based on ongoing surveillance of the literature and continual updating. Most currently available guidance documents address the conduct, reporting, publishing, and appraisal of systematic reviews (SRs), but are not suitable for LSRs per se and miss additional LSR-specific considerations. In this scoping review, we aim to systematically collate methodological guidance literature on how to conduct, report, publish, and appraise the quality of LSRs and identify current gaps in guidance. Methods A standard scoping review methodology was used. We searched MEDLINE (Ovid), EMBASE (Ovid), and The Cochrane Library on August 28, 2021. As for searching gray literature, we looked for existing guidelines and handbooks on LSRs from organizations that conduct evidence syntheses. The screening was conducted by two authors independently in Rayyan, and data extraction was done in duplicate using a pilot-tested data extraction form in Excel. Data was extracted according to four pre-defined categories for (i) conducting, (ii) reporting, (iii) publishing, and (iv) appraising LSRs. We mapped the findings by visualizing overview tables created in Microsoft Word. Results Of the 21 included papers, methodological guidance was found in 17 papers for conducting, in six papers for reporting, in 15 papers for publishing, and in two papers for appraising LSRs. Some of the identified key items for (i) conducting LSRs were identifying the rationale, screening tools, or re-revaluating inclusion criteria. Identified items of (ii) the original PRISMA checklist included reporting the registration and protocol, title, or synthesis methods. For (iii) publishing, there was guidance available on publication type and frequency or update trigger, and for (iv) appraising, guidance on the appropriate use of bias assessment or reporting funding of included studies was found. Our search revealed major evidence gaps, particularly for guidance on certain PRISMA items such as reporting results, discussion, support and funding, and availability of data and material of a LSR. Conclusion Important evidence gaps were identified for guidance on how to report in LSRs and appraise their quality. Our findings were applied to inform and prepare a PRISMA 2020 extension for LSR.

Copyright of Ars & Humanitas is the property of Ars & Humanitas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Tópicos is the property of Asociacion Revista de Filosofia de Santa Fe and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper discusses contemporary advancements in the affective sciences (described together as skeptical theories) that can inform the music-emotion literature. Key concepts in these theories are outlined, highlighting their points of agreement and disagreement. This summary shows the importance of appraisal within the emotion process, provides a greater emphasis upon goal-directed accounts of (emotion) behavior, and a need to move away from discrete emotion "folk" concepts and toward the study of an emotional episode and its components. Consequently, three contemporary music emotion theories (BRECVEMA, Multifactorial Process Approach, and a Constructionist Account) are examined through a skeptical lens. This critique highlights the over-reliance upon categorization and a lack of acknowledgment of appraisal processes, specifically goal-directed appraisal, in examining how individual experiences of music emerge in different contexts. Based on this critique of current music-emotion models, we present our skeptically informed CODA model - Constructivistly-Organised Dimensional-Appraisal model. This model addresses skeptical limitations of existing theories, reinstates the role of goal-directed appraisal as central to what makes music relevant and meaningful to an individual in different contexts and brings together different theoretical frameworks into a single model. From the development of the CODA model, several hypotheses are proposed and applied to musical contexts. These hypotheses address theoretical issues such as acknowledging individual and contextual differences in emotional intensity and valence, as well as differentiating between induced and perceived emotions, and utilitarian and aesthetic emotions. We conclude with a sections of recommendations for future research. Altogether, this theoretical critique and proposed model points toward a positive future direction for music-emotion science. One where researchers can take forward testable predictions about what makes music relevant and meaningful to an individual. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paper highlights the determination of ground water chemical quality of Thandla area for drinking and domestic uses in Thandla area situated in vicinity of Jhabua district, Madhya Pradesh in India. The selected 30 ground water samples have been subjected to chemical treatment. The analyzed data have been described and interpreted for drinking and domestic applications. Based on determined values of Cations (Ca, Mg, Na, K) and Anions (Cl-, SO4-, CO3-, HCO3-, NO3-, F-) of ground water plotted on Trilinear Piper's diagram, and compared with the World Health Organization and Indian Standard limits. In general, the ground water is suitable for drinking and domestic purpose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking an effective authorial stance has been the interest of researchers on academic writing for quite some time. It is agreed upon that the interpersonal aspect of writing is essential in setting up prosody and forcing persuasive argument expected in academic context. This paper is based on a hypothesis that effective and authorial stance is a major principal requirement for publishing in top-ranked journals. Hence, it investigates the linguistic resources employed by authors to realize authorial voices when introducing their research topics and how they relate them with the potential meanings of rhetorical moves to build up persuasive argument. To do this, the study drew on Martin and White's (2005) Appraisal system and Swales' (1990) genre analysis as the two main analytical frameworks for data analysis. The data consisted of sixty research articles (RAs) taken from journals in the linguistics field. Half of the RAs were drawn from SSCI-ranked journals while the other half from other journals that do not have prestigious indexes. The results showed that the percentage of using Monoglossic resources (propositions that contain bare assertions where writer/speaker makes no reference to any alternative viewpoints) is higher in frequency in non-SSCI journals compared to SSCI-ranked journals. Overall, the introduction sections of the two groups of journals have shown a link between the use of evaluative language patterns and the potential meanings of rhetorical moves, which altogether may help project effective authorial stance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emotion is an integral part of cognition. There is significant evidence of mutual, bi-directional influence between cognitive and emotional processes. Also, more and more research works propose an integrative view of emotion and cognition. In this paper, we review a large literature on emotion–cognition interactions in psychology, neuroscience, and computational modeling. Then, we introduce eMODUL, which consolidates this literature into a conceptual model. In particular, this model stresses the importance of emotional modulations and the roles they play with respect to the system autonomy depending on the targeted computational/cognitive processes (e.g., allocation of resources, organization of behavior). To illustrate these aspects and support our theoretical model, we review two robotic experiments where eMODUL is instantiated. The results demonstrate the interest of our approach for the development of interaction/communication and autonomy/adaptation capabilities in cognitive robots. In terms of natural cognition understanding they give additional insights into the emergence of emotion, the construction of multilevel appraisal, and the link between emotion and cognition in task-related emotions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores communing affiliation and out-grouping in a corpus of Trump's tweets about Iran. Communing is a form of 'ambient affiliation' (Zappavigna 2011) which offers a way of understanding how Trump attempts to build alignments with his audience without necessarily directly engaging with them, since he tends to ignore replies to his tweets. The paper focuses on three affiliation strategies: convoking (mustering community), promoting (garnering attention), and finessing (dialogistic positioning). It draws on Martin and White's (2005) Appraisal framework to consider how these affiliation strategies are used to foster communing around ideation-attitude couplings, typically couplings associating Iran with negative judgement or appreciation. Promoting affiliation was found to be the most prominent affiliation strategy used by Trump to garner attention through his rhetorical tendency toward hyperbole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper combines Tobin's Q theory of real investment with the capital asset pricing model to produce a new and relatively simple procedure for the valuation of real assets using the income approach. Applications of the new method are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the nature of invoked attitude as part of the Appraisal framework under Systemic Functional Linguistics, offering an amended set of diagnostic tools for tracking the ways that attitude may be invoked or implied in written discourse. Under the appraisal framework, categories of attitude are located in a system network, suggesting that there are a set of features that can determine whether wordings belong to one or another category. However, in the many cases where such attitudes are invoked, rather than being directly activated through the use of highly stable lexical items, such categorisation becomes problematic. Categorisation of attitude is dependent almost entirely on discourse semantic features of text and on interpretive probabilities, even in the case of explicit or 'inscribed' Attitudes, since the value (negative or positive) of many lexical items can be 'flipped' in the co-text in which such wordings appear. This paper presents what is termed a Spectrum of potential invoked attitudinal activators, arguing that these textual devices and resources provide a more fine-grained approach to analyses where invoked attitudes have been identified in texts. The paper argues that intertextuality, in its broadest sense, needs to be taken into account when making claims that attitudinal values have been identified in texts. As such, the paper presents a somewhat different theoretical approach to that offered by Martin and White (2005). The proposals offered are illustrated with excerpts from a study based on a close analysis of a corpus of texts of written interaction comprising over 80,000 running words, texts in which invoked attitude was more frequent than inscribed attitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The analysis of newspaper discourse offers valuable insights into how society represents or misrepresents certain social participants and their actions. In view of the bias claimed to exist in journalistic prose (Bednarek, 2006; White, 2006), it is not uncommon to find evidence of the mistreatment directed towards particular minorities (Baker et al., 2008; Fowler, 1991). In this paper, the ideological stance associated with a specific minority group (i.e. homosexuals) is brought to the forefront in 2008, when Ireland's vibrant economy took a dramatic turn for the worse. Incidentally, this coincided with homosexuality taking centre stage in Ireland's political agenda, as 2008 marked the final stage of the long drawn-out debate on the Civil Partnership Bill. This paper is designed to offer insights into how evaluative language may reflect the mentality of Irish society in relation to the LGBT community. Martin & White's (2005) APPRAISAL theory is highly relevant and applicable for this purpose, as it covers the idea of social esteem, social sanction, personal attitude and appreciation, which can be powerful indicators of a society's take on current affairs. The methodology employed here is that of corpus-assisted discourse analysis (Stubbs, 1996). The dataset comprises over 200,000 words taken from three different newspapers: Two tabloids and one broadsheet. Our dataset is annotated on the basis of the categories in Martin & White's (2005) subsystem of ATTITUDE (AFFECT, JUDGEMENT and APPRECIATION). The application of this taxonomy uncovers a remarkably negative stance towards the Irish LGBT community in the sample analysed. This is particularly evident in the predominance of evaluative and emotive language associated with the categories of negative JUDGEMENT and AFFECT. Previous research on the same sample, looking at metaphor, transitivity and modality (e.g. Bartley & Hidalgo-Tenorio, 2015), has cast light on how homosexuals are repeatedly discriminated against and vilified in the Irish public arena. This study confirms the results so far obtained through the analysis of evaluative language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]