Rhetoric in standard setting : the case of the going-concern audit

This paper seeks to explore in depth the ways in which the rhetoric of the standard setter responds to comments received during development of a standard. Previous research has explored the use of rhetorical strategies in accounting standards to construct and persuade as to what is 'good' and to silence potential criticisms and alternative proposals. The exploration is extended to the development of an auditing standard and is strengthened by relating the opinions of lobbyists to the rhetoric used in the response. The analysis shows that, in a situation where the standard setter's position changed significantly during the exposure of proposals to comment, rhetorical strategies in the exposure draft or standard were adapted to match the changing direction of persuasion, with silencing of potential counter-argument evidenced in the surrounding explanatory material. Research implications/limitations - The research demonstrates that those using standards should be aware of the normative nature of these documents and the subjectivity inherent in the nature of the text. The paper builds on Young's 2003 paper by exploring the dynamics of the ways in which the rhetoric of the standard setter responds to comment during the consultation process

Investigation of the perceived usefulness of a StudyNet group discussion facility by international students

Postgraduate international students at UK institutions of higher education often find difficulty dealing with seminar-type discussions. An attempt was made to help students with this by utilising the group discussion facility of StudyNet. However, as most of the students were from East Asia, where education is often considered as essentially a passive process rather than something they have to do for themselves, it was felt necessary to investigate this to see how seriously they took such an activity. A questionnaire was therefore given to the students and the results analysed. Despite some criticisms, the students were generally found to understand the purpose of the activity and think it beneficial. Thus, overall, when activities are clearly seen to be related to the learning outcomes and integrated into the course, they can be used with confidence with East Asian students.Peer reviewe

Effects of run-up velocity on performance, kinematics, and energy exchanges in the pole vault

Copyright @ 2012 The Authors. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and 85 reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. The article was made available through the Brunel University Open Access Publishing Fund.This study examined the effect of run-up velocity on the peak height achieved by the athlete in the pole vault and on the corresponding changes in the athlete's kinematics and energy exchanges. Seventeen jumps by an experienced male pole vaulter were video recorded in the sagittal plane and a wide range of run-up velocities (4.5-8.5 m/s) was obtained by setting the length of the athlete's run-up (2-16 steps). A selection of performance variables, kinematic variables, energy variables, and pole variables were calculated from the digitized video data. We found that the athlete's peak height increased linearly at a rate of 0.54 m per 1 m/s increase in run-up velocity and this increase was achieved through a combination of a greater grip height and a greater push height. At the athlete's competition run-up velocity (8.4 m/s) about one third of the rate of increase in peak height arose from an increase in grip height and about two thirds arose from an increase in push height. Across the range of run-up velocities examined here the athlete always performed the basic actions of running, planting, jumping, and inverting on the pole. However, he made minor systematic changes to his jumping kinematics, vaulting kinematics, and selection of pole characteristics as the run-up velocity increased. The increase in run-up velocity and changes in the athlete's vaulting kinematics resulted in substantial changes to the magnitudes of the energy exchanges during the vault. A faster run-up produced a greater loss of energy during the take-off, but this loss was not sufficient to negate the increase in run-up velocity and the increase in work done by the athlete during the pole support phase. The athlete therefore always had a net energy gain during the vault. However, the magnitude of this gain decreased slightly as run-up velocity increased

Main group multiple bonds for bond activations and catalysis

Since the discovery that the so called ‘double-bond’ rule could be broken, the field of molecular main group multiple bonds has expanded rapidly. With the majority of homodiatomic double and triple bonds realised within the p-block, along with many heterodiatomic combinations, this minireview examines the reactivity of these compounds with a particular emphasis on small molecule activation. Furthermore, whilst their ability to act as transition metal mimics has been explored, their catalytic behavior is somewhat limited. This minireview aims to highlight the potential of these complexes towards catalytic application and their role as synthons in further functionalisations making them a versatile tool for the modern synthetic chemist

GP perspectives on hospital discharge letters : an interview and focus group study

Background: Written discharge communication following inpatient or outpatient clinic discharge is essential for communicating information to the GP, but GPs’ opinions on discharge communication are seldom sought. Patients are sometimes copied into this communication, but the reasons for this variation, and the resultant effects, remain unclear. Aim: To explore GP perspectives on how discharge letters can be improved in order to enhance patient outcomes. Design & setting: The study used narrative interviews with 26 GPs from 13 GP practices within the West Midlands, England. Method: Interviews were transcribed and data were analysed using corpus linguistics (CL) techniques. Results Elements pivotal to a successful letter were: diagnosis, appropriate follow-up plan, medication changes and reasons, clinical summary, investigations and/or procedures and outcomes, and what information has been given to the patient. GPs supported patients receiving discharge letters and expounded a number of benefits of this practice; for example, increased patient autonomy. Nevertheless, GPs felt that if patients are to receive direct discharge letter copies, modifications such as use of lay language and avoidance of acronyms may be required to increase patient understanding. Conclusion: GPs reported that discharge letters frequently lacked content items they assessed to be important; GPs highlighted that this can have subsequent ramifications on resources and patient experiences. Templates should be devised that put discharge letter elements assessed to be important by GPs to the forefront. Future research needs to consider other perspectives on letter content, particularly those of patients

How Passion and Perseverance Steered the Course Towards a University\u27s Information Literacy Framework

This paper will outline how an Information Literacy Framework evolved out of research which was undertaken at a British university. This research facilitated the raising of awareness about the topic. From that basis, an Information Literacy Framework was designed which went through the due process of the university’s committees’ approval in order to become established as a document to inform curriculum development. The research was first undertaken to obtain academic staff perceptions of information literacy and to ascertain how skills relating to information and research were being incorporated into student learning. The main findings were that, whilst the skills were highly valued by staff, there were lower levels of activity in terms of incorporating them into teaching, learning and assessment. Having raised academic staff awareness about information literacy, it was decided to develop an Information Literacy Framework. The framework was discussed within the university library and the opinions of ‘critical friends’ from amongst the academic staff also influenced the development. The final version of the framework was designed to match the style of a course or module template as this was a format which was well known to academic staff. The Information Literacy Framework was then taken to each of the Faculty Learning and Teaching Committees for approval. Finally, the framework was approved by the University Learning and Teaching Committee in May 2006. The framework was promoted in a variety of ways but the greatest push was given through its inclusion in the university’s new Program Developer’s Handbook

The Pathogenesis of Hashimoto's Thyroiditis: Further Developments in our Understanding

Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT) is part of a spectrum of thyroid autoimmune conditions and this review provides an update on the latest developments in the field. HT has a genetic predisposition with a number of immune-related and thyroid-specific genes conferring disease susceptibility. However, disentangling genes with protective and predisposing effect is a complex process that requires further work. The recent increase in the incidence of HT implicates environmental factors in disease pathogenesis including improved hygiene, increased dietary iodine intake, new treatment modalities and chemical agents. Additional unmodifiable predisposing factors include stress, climate, age and gender. Both cellular and humoral immunity play a role in HT pathogenesis. Defects in T regulatory cells and increased activation of follicular helper T cells may have a role in disease initiation/perpetuation. Infiltrating lymphocytes can be directly cytotoxic to thyroid follicular cells (TFC) or may affect cell viability/function indirectly through cytokine production, which alters TFC integrity and modulates their metabolic and immune function. Thyroid peroxidase and thyroglobulin antibodies are present in the majority of HT patients and help with management decisions. Antibodies against the sodium iodide symporter and pendrin are present in a minority with little known about their clinical relevance. In addition to immune cells, recent work has identified DNA fragments, generated following cell death, and micro RNA as potential factors in HT pathogenesis. Despite the large number of studies, the mechanistic pathways in HT are still not fully understood and further work is required to enhance our knowledge and identify novel preventative and therapeutic clinical targets