Silent reading of direct versus indirect speech activates voice-selective areas in the auditory cortex

In human communication, direct speech (e.g., Mary said: “I'm hungry”) is perceived to be more vivid than indirect speech (e.g., Mary said [that] she was hungry). However, for silent reading, the representational consequences of this distinction are still unclear. Although many of us share the intuition of an “inner voice,” particularly during silent reading of direct speech statements in text, there has been little direct empirical confirmation of this experience so far. Combining fMRI with eye tracking in human volunteers, we show that silent reading of direct versus indirect speech engenders differential brain activation in voice-selective areas of the auditory cortex. This suggests that readers are indeed more likely to engage in perceptual simulations (or spontaneous imagery) of the reported speaker's voice when reading direct speech as opposed to meaning-equivalent indirect speech statements as part of a more vivid representation of the former. Our results may be interpreted in line with embodied cognition and form a starting point for more sophisticated interdisciplinary research on the nature of auditory mental simulation during reading

Exploring the role of non-financial risk management in strategy processes of large retail banks

The consideration of risk in the banking industry generally involves the understanding of credit and financial risks. However, the occurrence of high-profile, non-financial risk events (such as system downtime and fraud) have resulted in negative financial and reputational implications for banks globally. These events have provided an opportunity for stakeholders to reflect on the consideration of non-financial risk. Therefore, the objective of this research was to understand the incorporation of non-financial risk management into the strategy process at retail banks, including the related benefits and challenges and the initiatives that have been (and require to be) undertaken. To this end, a qualitative research approach was conducted, using an exploratory design. Twelve banking subject matter experts were interviewed to explore their unique insights and experiences into the research problem. The research identified several challenges related to the consideration of operational and business risk. Key findings emerged including: the need for increased awareness of non-financial risk concepts, the need to balance risk management and business development, and the dangers of over-confidence in existing internal processes

The combinatorics of the Baer-Specker group

Denote the integers by Z and the positive integers by N. The groups Z^k (k a natural number) are discrete, and the classification up to isomorphism of their (topological) subgroups is trivial. But already for the countably infinite power Z^N of Z, the situation is different. Here the product topology is nontrivial, and the subgroups of Z^N make a rich source of examples of non-isomorphic topological groups. Z^N is the Baer-Specker group. We study subgroups of the Baer-Specker group which possess group theoretic properties analogous to properties introduced by Menger (1924), Hurewicz (1925), Rothberger (1938), and Scheepers (1996). The studied properties were introduced independently by Ko\v{c}inac and Okunev. We obtain purely combinatorial characterizations of these properties, and combine them with other techniques to solve several questions of Babinkostova, Ko\v{c}inac, and Scheepers.Comment: To appear in IJ

Impact of the council of europe resolution on quality and safety assurance requirements for medicinal products prepared in pharmacies for the special needs of patients

Introduction and objective: The regulation of pharmacy preparations, especially for standards for quality assurance and safety, is not harmonised across Europe and falls under the national competencies of individual states. There are concerns about quality control and safety for the medicinal products made in pharmacies, which is widespread in European countries. There are, however, good reasons to continue this practice, which is able to tailor preparations to the specific needs of a particular patient or patient group and to provide a supplementary source of supply when an industrially manufactured product, which is authorised for marketing is not available or when there are temporary shortages of licensed medicines. In seeking to provide guidelines for legislation and acting on the advice of an expert group dealing in pharmaceutical practices, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe passed a resolution in 2011. The Council of Europe Resolution provides authorities and pharmacists with the means to reinforce safety measures for medicinal products prepared in pharmacies and to harmonise quality assurance and safety standards. It dealt with aspects of pharmacy preparation such as quality standards for preparation and distribution, marketing authorisation, product dossiers, labelling, reporting, and safety. In 2013 and 2014 the Committee of Experts carried out a survey to evaluate the impact of the resolution within a cross section of member states,Methods: In the resolution of 2011 the member states were recommended to adapt their legislation in line with its provisions. The survey that was carried out in 2013 and 2014 followed the recommendations in the reso-lution. A questionnaire was made and sent to across section of member states.Results: Among the member states involved, the results of this survey show a clear commitment to imple-ment the recommendations of the resolution.Conclusions: This report presents the results of the survey with a discussion of outstanding issues

The influence of post-2008 legislation on an acquisition that turned hostile: A South African case study

Hostile acquisitions have a significant impact on managers and employees. The possibility of an acquisition creates uncertainty and when the acquisition turns hostile it is even more disruptive to the target organisation. Also, negative perceptions are often created in the media about the acquirer that influence employees’ attitudes in the target organisation. Processes to successfully integrate the acquirer and target organisations are impacted by these antagonistic pre-acquisition circumstances.   The Companies Act (no.71 of 2008) created opportunities for shareholders to hold an acquired company’s management accountable for financial performance and the researchers set out to investigate how the intent of the new legislation played out in practice, by studying an acquisition that turned hostile. The single case study research methodology revealed the manoeuvring of both the acquiring and acquired companies which utilised the mechanisms available to them through the new legislative, regulatory and corporate governance landscapes. The researchers provide an extensive review of the relevant mergers and acquisitions’ literature, as well as influence of the international legislative environment on the current local regulations. These regulations in turn, inform corporate governance and ultimately board behaviours. The researchers conducted qualitative interviews with key role players as well as legal and financial experts. The findings of the thematic analysis and triangulation process, informed a conceptual frame of three episodes

Sorting Permutations: Games, Genomes, and Cycles

Permutation sorting, one of the fundamental steps in pre-processing data for the efficient application of other algorithms, has a long history in mathematical research literature and has numerous applications. Two special-purpose sorting operations are considered in this paper: context directed swap, abbreviated cds, and context directed reversal, abbreviated cdr. These are special cases of sorting operations that were studied in prior work on permutation sorting. Moreover, cds and cdr have been postulated to model molecular sorting events that occur in the genome maintenance program of certain species of single-celled organisms called ciliates. This paper investigates mathematical aspects of these two sorting operations. The main result of this paper is a generalization of previously discovered characterizations of cds-sortability of a permutation. The combinatorial structure underlying this generalization suggests natural combinatorial two-player games. These games are the main mathematical innovation of this paper.Comment: to appear in Discrete Mathematics, Algorithms and Application

Change in cervical length after arrested preterm labor and the risk of preterm birth

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS B.W.J.M. is supported by a NHMRC Investigator grant (GNT1176437). B.W.J.M. reports consultancy for Guerbet, has been a member of the ObsEva advisory board and holds stock options for ObsEva. B.W.J.M. has received research funding from Guerbet and Merck.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

HBM4EU chromates study - Usefulness of measurement of blood chromium levels in the assessment of occupational Cr(VI) exposure

Occupational exposures to hexavalent Chromium (Cr(VI)) can occur in welding, hot working stainless steel processing, chrome plating, spray painting and coating activities. Recently, within the human biomonitoring for Europe initiative (HBM4EU), a study was performed to assess the suitability of different biomarkers to assess the exposure to Cr(VI) in various job tasks. Blood-based biomarkers may prove useful when more specific information on systemic and intracellular bioavailability is necessary. To this aim, concentrations of Cr in red blood cells (RBC-Cr) and in plasma (P–Cr) were analyzed in 345 Cr(VI) exposed workers and 175 controls to understand how these biomarkers may be affected by variable levels of exposure and job procedures. Compared to controls, significantly higher RBC-Cr levels were observed in bath plating and paint application workers, but not in welders, while all the 3 groups had significantly greater P–Cr concentrations. RBC-Cr and P–Cr in chrome platers showed a high correlation with Cr(VI) in inhalable dust, outside respiratory protective equipment (RPE), while such correlation could not be determined in welders. In platers, the use of RPE had a significant impact on the relationship between blood biomarkers and Cr(VI) in inhalable and respirable dust. Low correlations between P–Cr and RBC-Cr may reflect a difference in kinetics. This study showed that Cr-blood-based biomarkers can provide information on how workplace exposure translates into systemic availability of Cr(III) (extracellular, P–Cr) and Cr(VI) (intracellular, RBC-Cr). Further studies are needed to fully appreciate their use in an occupational health and safety context

Walk well:a randomised controlled trial of a walking intervention for adults with intellectual disabilities: study protocol

Background - Walking interventions have been shown to have a positive impact on physical activity (PA) levels, health and wellbeing for adult and older adult populations. There has been very little work carried out to explore the effectiveness of walking interventions for adults with intellectual disabilities. This paper will provide details of the Walk Well intervention, designed for adults with intellectual disabilities, and a randomised controlled trial (RCT) to test its effectiveness. Methods/design - This study will adopt a RCT design, with participants allocated to the walking intervention group or a waiting list control group. The intervention consists of three PA consultations (baseline, six weeks and 12 weeks) and an individualised 12 week walking programme. A range of measures will be completed by participants at baseline, post intervention (three months from baseline) and at follow up (three months post intervention and six months from baseline). All outcome measures will be collected by a researcher who will be blinded to the study groups. The primary outcome will be steps walked per day, measured using accelerometers. Secondary outcome measures will include time spent in PA per day (across various intensity levels), time spent in sedentary behaviour per day, quality of life, self-efficacy and anthropometric measures to monitor weight change. Discussion - Since there are currently no published RCTs of walking interventions for adults with intellectual disabilities, this RCT will examine if a walking intervention can successfully increase PA, health and wellbeing of adults with intellectual disabilities