bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Identifying Emotional Intelligence Related Competencies among Highly Successful Managers for Corporate Success: An Empirical Study
Authors: Dwivedi R.S.
Published: November 2015

The emerging literature reveals a close relationship between corporate success and the emotional intelligence of its leaders. While the theory of emotional intelligence is rooted in the initial phase of intelligence testing movement, the term 'emotional intelligence' was coined in 1990 by Salovey and Mayor who defined it as the "ability to monitor one's own and other's feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them and use this information to guide one's thinking and action". Despite numerous research studies conducted abroad, very; little empirical work has been conducted on emotional intelligence and related competencies in India. Because of this serious research gap, the present study has been undertaken to ascertain whether emotional intelligence and related competencies really characterise highly successful managers in profit making Indian organisations. A purposive sample (n=60) of highly successful managers from five profit making Indian organisations was administered 'EC Scale for Managers' to identify; their emotional intelligence related competencies. The mean scores of emotional intelligence and its five components were found to be above average among the managers. The scores of individual managers ranged from moderate to high on emotional intelligence and its components; of course, most of them were above average.

Emotional intelligence and its components had no (or very; low insignificant) relationships (r ranged from -.21 to .16) with age and experience. However, education revealed low negative (but significant) relationships with emotional intelligence (r= -.31) and three of its components: social skill (r= -.33), empathy (r= -.29) and motivation (r=-.27). The 15 managerial competencies related to five interrelated dimensions (3 in each) of emotional intelligence identified by the study can he placed in an organised framework or grid for varied HR decisions concerning managers to accomplish corporate success in the Indian context. In descending order, these include: empathy (expertise in building and retaining talent, cross-cultural sensitivity, service to clients and customers), self-awareness (self-confidence, realistic self-assessment, self-depreciating sense of humour), motivation (strong drive to achieve, optimism, organisational commitment), self-regulation (trust-worthiness and integrity, comfort with ambiguity, openness to change) and social skill (effectiveness in leading change, persuasiveness, expertise in building and leading teams).
Service Quality in Commercial Banks: A Comparative Study
Authors: Gani A. , Bhat Mushtaq A.
Published: November 2015

In today’s competitive environment, consumers are increasingly aware of alternatives on offer in relation to services and provider organizations and also of rising standards of service. Consequently, expectations rise and consumers become more critical of the quality of service. So companies can never afford to be complacent. In addition, knowledge of the costs and benefits of retaining consumers relative to attracting new ones draws company’s foremost attention to looking after present customers, responding to their needs and problems, and developing long term relationships. In view of this widespread belief, an attempt has been made in the present paper to study service quality in commercial banks with a view to offer suggestions to make overall service quality in banks more effective and efficient. The results of the study lead us to the conclusion that service quality of foreign banks is comparatively much better than Indian banks and suggests heavy investment by Indian banks in tangibility dimension to improve the quality of service to the customers.
A Management Decision Problem in Sugar Industry
Authors: Raman D. Sampangi , Manna D. K.
Published: November 2015

This article emphasizes the use of scientific methods in management practices through a live decision problem. The problem under consideration is sampling of sugar cane plots for cross-verification of area in order to decide on the subsidy amount to be paid to the farmers. We have built a cost model for the determination of the sample size. It is also shown that the present method of area computation is biased, and the company stands to gain a recurring annual savings to the tune of Rs.2.5 million when the exact method is employed. The management intends to invest a part of this savings towards the development of high-yielding varieties of crop, which will lead to the benefit of farmers directly.
Role-Structures In The Buying Decision Process For Durables
Authors: Soni Pavleen
Published: November 2015

Making purchases in families encompasses participation of various family members. The extent of involvement of family members is likely to differ not only across product categories, but also by the stage of decision-making process. Variation in involvement across stages of decision-making process allows for different members of the family to make specific sub-decisions of the overall decision. The decision-making process for purchase of products is generally carried out in the following stages.
A New Technique for Test Case Prioritization for Regression Testing
Authors: Singh Yogesh , Kaur Arvinder , Suri Bharti
Published: November 2015

Regression testing is an expensive but necessary maintenance activity. Prioritization techniques are used during regression testing so as to minimize the cost incurred during maintenance. We propose new algorithm for prioritizing test cases. Variable are primary source of changes in the program and this algorithm catches these changes through the variables. We have demonstrated the algorithm using an example.
Institutional Economics of Cooperation and The Political Economy of Trust
Authors: Vargas-Hernández José G.
Published: November 2015

The aim of this paper is to analyse the institutional economics of cooperation and the political economy of trust. It has reviewed transaction costs, the principal-agent theory, market power, increasing-returns theory and value creation, strategic management, competitive forces, resource-based theory, organizational knowledge and learning, strategic choice theory and collective efficiency theory. Finally, it has explained the political economy of trust.
Customer Commitment vs Relationship Marketing in Banks
Authors: Dhyani Atul , Batra G. S. , Dhillon Jaskaran Singh
Published: November 2015

Commitment’ is defined as an implicit or explicit pledge of relational continuity between exchange partners. One of the difficulties here is that commitment is closely related to the concept of loyalty and as such, might be considered to be the desired outcome of building relationship in consumer market. However if the consumer is unaware that a relationship is being developed, and he/she has not explicitly cooperated in the process, there is no evidence of commitment on his/her part. Scholars have suggested that marketing relationships are based on the expectations of mutuality of interest with both parties expecting comparable benefits from relationships. The benefits to a firm of developing a relationship are well documented. The present study is based on the concept of commitment and its impact on customer relationship marketing in banking sector in India in the post-liberalization era.
Mission Statement in Indian Companies: A Content Analysis
Authors: Kodwani Amitabh Deo , Singh Manjeesh K.
Published: November 2015

The mission statement is the foundation on which other intended actions and strategies of an organization is built. The existence of mission statement promotes a sense of shared expectation in employees and is intended to motivate behaviours of organizational members towards common organizational goals. It is however not surprising that little attention has been paid to study the role of mission statement in Indian firms in the recent past. This paper tries to fill this void in the Indian strategy literature. It focuses on the mission statement of Indian companies drawn from the companies ‘websites. The mission statements are then analysed to determine the extent to which they conform to the commonly accepted views of the ideal mission statement. The deficiency in mission statements of Indian companies are highlighted and conclusions drawn.
Decoupling Theory: A Study of Global Markets in the Present Era of Volatility
Authors: Khalsa Amarjeet S.
Published: November 2015

It is commonly remarked that world markets catch cold when the US market sneezes. In this context what happened in the year 2000 has been well recorded in the chronicles of stock exchanges. Steep fall in NASDAQ resulted in impacting Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex as well as most South-East Asian Markets. The phenomenon of global stock market contagion is now familiar and has become more pronounced in recent years apparently because of the rapid global economic integration. This paper reports a study to find out if there is a correlation between Indian and Global stock markets and to further find out which market affects the Indian market maximum. In the context of the study, the paper examines the emerging concept of decoupling theory, which believes that because of strong GDP growth of countries as China and India, the stock markets of these countries will remain bullish even when there is recession in the US. The study presents an overall picture that although there is no perfect correlation, stock indices of Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, London, NASDAQ and Brazil had more impact on Indian index.
Indian Apparel Export Industry in the Post-MFA Phase-Out Period: Challenges and Strategies
Authors: Kathuria Lalit Mohan , Singh Raghbir
Published: November 2015

The apparel sector is one of Indio’s oldest and most important economic sectors. It is the only industry which is self-reliant and complete in value chain, that is, from row material to the highest valueadded product-apparel. The growth and development of this industry has a significant bearing on the overall development of the Indian economy. Till dote, Multi-fibre Arrangement (MFA) governed the world trade in apparel but apparel trade is likely to change base after Multi-fibre Arrangement (MFA) phase-out. The exact impact of MFA phase-out will be visible after a considerable time period. Industry experts say the main losers are going to be the companies in developing countries, which have built up market shore due to holding quota or having quota-free access. This paper discusses the challenges before the Indian apparel export industry in view of Multi-fibre Arrangement (MFA) phase-out. It also suggests some important steps to be token, which would help apparel exporters garner a larger shore in the world trade of apparel in the post-MFA phase-out period.
Efficiency Of The Indian Commodity And Stock Market With Focus On Some Agricultural Product
Authors: Chakrabarty Ranajit , Sarkar Asima
Published: November 2015

This study intends to look into whether the commodity futures market provides information and subsequently whether it helps to reduce the volatility of the Indian spot market. The main purpose of this paper is to study the characteristics of the Indian commodity futures market for studying whether the efficient functioning of the market depends on the pricing of the commodities The MCX spot and future indices, MCX agricultural spot and future indices and daily Nifty returns have been used for the cointegration analysis to find out whether price formation is efficient or not. Secondly, for a collection of agricultural commodities traded on National Commodity Exchange (NCDEX), this paper intends to test the efficiency of the Indian commodity market using cointegration analysis. Since, rice is a very important agricultural commodity for India, this paper studies the commodity futures market for different qualities of rice, potato, wheat and masoor grain. The indices for these agricultural commodities have been taken from the National commodity Exchange. It also focuses to find out the information flow for these commodity futures using a GASRCH model. Using Bayesian estimation of GARCH(1,1) model with student - t innovation, the stationarity of the commodity spot and future market and the Indian stock market have been tried to be explored. It has been found that the commodity spot indices and the futures market indices are cointegrated with each other. The price of the different qualities of the rice depends on the recent news but not on the old news. The Bayesian estimation of the GARCH model concludes that the overall Indian commodity spot and future market and the Indian stock market are stationary and current values of also influenced by old news of the market.
“A Survey Of Teenagers’ Apparel Purchase Behavior: Fashion Apparels, Promotion, Reference Group And Body Cathexis”
Authors: Kaushal Dr. Shailesh K.
Published: November 2015

The paper examines the teenagers’ behavior in reference to fashion apparel purchase intentions and fashion marketing strategies in Lucknow with survey among700 teenagers regarding their attitudes toward apparels purchase. The paper first uses both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis to examine the factor structure and psychometric properties of these items. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) using AMOS version 16 was utilized for model testing and to verify the four dimensions of teenager’s apparels purchase intentions. Confirmatory factor analyses successfully validated the items used to measure four dimensions of teenagers buying intentions namely fashion apparels, in-store promotions, reference group and body cathexis. This study wilt help the marketers to understand the teenagers’ apparels buying behavior and help them to make their marketing strategies accordingly.
Lending To Priority Sector In India: A Study Of Public And Private Banks
Authors: Sharma Dr. Nishi
Published: November 2015

Priority sector lending is undoubtedly one of the most appreciable reforms initiated by Government of India to ensure the betterment of lagging and deprived groups of society. As per the directives of RBI all scheduled commercial banks from public as well as private sector are hereby under compulsion to lend at least 40 per cent of Adjusted Net Bank Credit or credit equivalent amount of Off Balance Sheet Exposures (whichever is higher)to priority sectors. Although all Indian bank, irrespective to their ownership, are supposed to share the responsibility of uplifting needy section equally yet the actual scenario does not portray the same. In this context, the present paper attempts to analyse whether the practice of priority sector lending is similar for public and private sector banks or one of these two sectors is more committed to its task?
Managing Institutions of Higher Education: A Case for a Public Relations Programme
Authors: Gupta Mukul P.
Published: November 2015

The times ahead are going to be difficult for most of the institutions of higher education for reasons like rising costs of running the institutions, limits on revenue from the fees, declining numbers of applicants, rising public expectations, rising faculty costs, non-availability of good faculty resources, curriculum and pedagogical-controversies.

There are opportunities available too. Public faith in formal education is well established and growing. People are willing to pay for better education. Public acceptance for private institutions is increasing. The economy is on the upswing creating sufficient jobs for the kind of people which such institutions turn out.

There will be four external areas to consider in the future for survival and growth of these institutions: Freedom, Funds, Federalism and Freshers. Key internal areas have to be identified for close monitoring, control and nurturing. Some of them are—Courses, Facilities and Faculty. Institutions would have to recognise, nurture, pamper and seek support from their public.
Managerial Leadership in the Twenty-First Century
Authors: Jayashree S. , Sadri S.
Published: November 2015

This paper is based on research conducted in Universities of India between 1993 and 1997. It critically examines the kind of leadership required to lead Indian Industry into the 21st Century. The approach though based on data, is theoretical. The study suggests that a combination of ethics and novel ideas is the mix of skills which the new leadership will per force have to possess if it is to blaze a trail and lead from the front.
Indian Joint Ventures in SAARC Countries : Problems And Prospects
Authors: Ahuja Shobha
Published: November 2015

The Paper deals essentially with the potential of promoting industrial cooperation in the SAARC countries by establishing joint ventures. Such an initiative is based on economic logic which, at the unit level, signifies higher returns on investment in the host country. Of the six SAARC nations, Indian corporates have invested only in two countries namely Nepal and Sri Lanka. Though the size and scale of operation in these countries is small, most Indian corporates hold a majority stake in their ventures. Indian companies consider investing in SAARC an attractive business proposition mainly for factors such as captive domestic market, exports to third countries, geographical proximity, positive legislation, developing raw material supplies and higher profits. Nevertheless, constraints in the form of small market size, inadequate infrastructure, paucity of information and cumbersome government procedures hinder realising of the full potential of the venture.
Book Review: Marketing in the New Era
Authors: Shainesh G.
Published: November 2015

Marketing in the New Era, J. S. Panwar, Response Books, A Division of Sage Publications, New Delhi,(1997), Price Rs. 350, pp. 277
Book Review: Competing Through Knowledge - Building a Learning Organization
Authors: Sikdar A.
Published: November 2015

Competing Through Knowledge - Building a Learning Organization, Madhukar Shukla, Response Books, A Division of Sage Publications, (1997), Price Rs 425 (Cloth) & Rs 250 (Paper), pp 334
Information Technology (IT) Empowerment of Indian Banks
Authors: Majumdar S.K.
Published: November 2015

Effective Information Support (IS) is very important for any bank. Nationalised banks have failed to automate their banking operations and are thus unable to support the banking needs of a new generation of customers, who want prompt and efficient service.

Realising the need for IT empowerment, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued several directives (3, 4, 5 and 7) to use Information Technology for improving house keeping, customer services, control over branches’ operations and timely generation of policy oriented information for the decision makers at various levels of banking.

Attempts were made to introduce distributed data processing and decision aiding approach, data management information systems, use of PC technology, modular aproach for designing the system, parallel flow of information and real time processing concept. Why has it taken so long for the IT empowerment of Indian banks?
Correlation analysis of continuous emotional response to music: Correcting for the effects of serial correlation
Authors: Schubert Emery
Published: November 2015

Publications of research concerning continuous emotional responses to music are increasing. The developing interest brings with it a need to understand the problems associated with the analysis of time series data. This article investigates growing concern in the use of conventional Pearson correlations for comparing time series data. Using continuous data collected in response to selected pieces of music, with two emotional dimensions for each piece, two falsification studies were conducted. The first study consisted of a factor analysis of the individual responses using the original data set and its first-order differenced transformation. The differenced data aligned according to theoretical constraints better than the untransformed data, supporting the use of first-order difference transformations. Using a similar method, the second study specifically investigated the relationship between Pearson correlations, difference transformations and the critical correlation coefficient above which the conventional correlation analysis remains internally valid. A falsification table was formulated and quantified through a hypothesis index function. The study revealed that correlations of undifferenced data must be greater than 0.75 for a valid interpretation of the relationship between bivariate emotional response time series data. First and second-order transformations were also investigated and found to be valid for correlation coefficients as low as 0.24. Of the three version of the data (untransformed, first-order differenced, and second-order differenced), first-order differenced data produced the fewest problems with serial correlation, whilst remaining a simple and meaningful transformation.
Event-Related Potentials to Expectancy Violation in Musical Context
Authors: Tervaniemi M. , Huotllainen M. , Bratiico E. , Ilmoniemi R.J. , Reinlkainen K. , Alho K.
Published: November 2015

The present study addressed neuronal processing of musical tones that violate expectancies primed by auditorily and visually presented musical material. Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded while the musically trained subjects were presented with short melodies composed for the experiment. The subject's expectations for the most likely ending were strengthened by displaying the melody score on a computer screen simultaneously with its auditory presentation. In about half of the melodies, the expected ending was randomly replaced by a tone violating the subjective expectancies in physical (frequency) and cognitive (harmonic) dimensions.

The present ERP results indicate that the melodic expectations cover the tone pitch as well as its harmonic function. At least with highly repetitive melodies when the listener is provided with simultaneous visual information of the expected ending of the melody, the expectations are predominantly formed in the physical dimension: Significant effects of expectancy violation were found in N1, N2, P3, and N4 ERP deflections for physically most distant but harmonically best fitting ending tone. In addition to physical distance between the expected and unexpected ending tone, harmonic context of the given melody modulated N2 deflection already at 200 ms after the unexpected ending.
Perception of Arpeggiated Chord Progressions
Authors: Jansen Erik , Povel Dirk-Jan
Published: November 2015

The nature of the representation that listeners form of the underlying harmony of a tone sequence was investigated in 4 experiments. Stimuli were tone sequences consisting of consecutive groups of three tones each forming an arpeggiated triad. In Experiments 1 and 2, listeners rated the musical logic of 6-tone sequences with different triad combinations. It was found that ratings were affected by the usualness of the chord successions. To investigate whether longer sequences of chord changes are incorporated in the mental representation, in Experiment 3 listeners rated 9-tone sequences implying 2 successive chord changes. Both chord changes affected the ratings, the second chord change having a stronger influence than the first. Experiment 4 investigated how the progression representation develops over time, by presenting 15-tone sequences as increasing initial fragments of 9, 12 and 15 tones. For each fragment listeners 1) rated its musical logic, 2) searched the first tone of an imagined continuation, and 3) indicated whether that tone was a suitable ending tone. The ratings confirmed the earlier results, and furthermore the continuation tones appeared to be members of the expected chord. The findings support the hypothesis that listeners included the underlying harmonic structure in their representation of a tone sequence.
An Exploration of Timbre Analysis: The Game of Sound in Two Performances of Jeux Vénitiens
Authors: Malloch Stephen
Published: November 2015

The analysis of timbre in musical structure is often left to subjective descriptive terms, while the analysis of pitch and form has a precise methodology and vocabulary at its disposal. Where changes in timbre appear to play an important role in a work, an analysis solely of the piece's pitch and thematic structures may fail to account for vital elements in the composition's structure. This paper presents an analysis of the first movement of Lutoslawski's Jeux vinitiens using techniques of timbre analysis based on psychoacoustic research. Following a traditional analysis of pitch and form, two different performances of Jeux vinitiens are analysed using psychoacoustic timbre measures of width, sharpness and roughness. The results from these two performances are compared and the score is examined for reasons for the changes in timbre. Musical structures based on both pitch and timbre analyses are proposed. The paper is both a case study of how timbre analysis can be done, and an invitation to others to embark on analysis of timbre in musical structures.
Musical Scales and Brightness Evaluations: Effects of Pitch, Direction, and Scale Mode
Authors: Collier William G. , Hubbard Timothy L.
Published: November 2015

A common form of synesthesia and nonsynesthetic cross-modal matching involves an association of visual brightness and auditory frequency, and the form of this association was studied in nonsynesthetic observers who rated the perceived brightness of ascending and descending musical scales drawn from four modes (natural, melodic, and harmonic minor modes, and major modes [including both relative and parallel major scales]). The descending harmonic minor mode was rated as darker than the descending natural/melodic minor mode. Ascending minor and major modes were rated as brighter than descending minor and major modes. In addition, musical keys that started on a higher pitch were rated as brighter than musical keys that started on a lower pitch. No consistent differences in ratings of brightness were found between musically experienced and musically inexperienced participants. The data are consistent with previous findings and suggest that more global aspects of pitch height, pitch distance between subsequent notes, and pitch contour ( i.e. the direction of pitch movement), rather than mode or key per se, influence ratings of the brightness of musical stimuli, and suggest recent use of “brightness” as a descriptor of or synonym solely for timbre may not be appropriate.
Sound and Meaning in Recordings of Schubert's “Die junge Nonne”
Authors: Leech-Wilkinson Daniel
Published: November 2015

Musicology's growing interest in performance brings it closer to musical science through a shared interest in the relationship between musical sounds and emotional states. However, the fact that musical performance styles change over time implies that understandings of musical compositions change too. And this has implications for studies of music cognition. While the mechanisms by which musical sounds suggest meaning are likely to be biologically grounded, what musical sounds signify in specific performance contexts today may not always be what they signified in the past, nor what they will signify in the future. Studies of music cognition need to take account of performance style change and its potential to inflect conclusions with cultural assumptions. The recorded performance history of Schubert's “Die junge Nonne” offers examples of significant change in style, as well as a range of radically contrasting views of what the song's text may mean. By examining details of performances, and interpreting them in the light of work on music perception and cognition, it is possible to gain a clearer understanding of how signs of emotional state are deployed in performance by singers. At the same time, in the absence of strong evidence as to how individual performances were understood in the past, we have to recognise that we can only speak with any confidence for our own time.
Vocal Expression in Recorded Performances of Schubert Songs
Authors: Timmers Renee
Published: November 2015

This exploratory study focuses on the relationship between vocal expression, musical structure, and emotion in recorded performances by famous singers of three Schubert songs. Measurement of variations in tempo, dynamics, and pitch showed highly systematic relationships with the music's structural and emotional characteristics, particularly as regards emotional activity and valence. Relationships with emotional activity were consistent across both singers and musical pieces, while relationships with emotional valence were piece-specific. Clear changes in performing style over the twentieth century were observed, including diminishing rubato, an increase followed by a decrease of the use of pitch glides, and a widening and slowing of vibrato. These systematic changes over time concern only the style of performance, not the strategies deployed to express the structural and emotional aspects of the music.
On the Power of Music to Affect Intergroup Relations
Authors: Bodner Ehud , Gilboa Avi
Published: November 2015

In three experiments we examined whether songs that are widely used in times of crisis (crisis songs, CS) could resume their unifying effect when they are played off-context. In the first experiment, two conflictual groups, religious and secular Jews, were exposed to CS, to love songs (LS), or to no songs and were then asked to express their attitudes towards their outgroups. It was found that CS positively affected respondents' attitudes: stigmas and prejudice were lessened. In a second experiment, the CS effect was examined under more restrictive conditions. Instead of listening to CS, participants were asked to recall them from memory. In addition, attitudes towards ingroups and outgroups were collected more systematically. Results showed again that CS reduced intergroup bias. In a third experiment we tried to understand the mechanism underlying the CS effect by examining the thoughts and associations that people had while listening to CS. Analysis of the associations showed that unifying themes such as “nationalism,” “sorrow and grief,” and “unity” were most prominent when religious and secular respondents listened to CS. The CS effect and its underlying mechanism are explained in light of the “common ingroup identity model.” CS had the power to bring into awareness that the conflicting groups belong to one superordinate social group which, in turn, reduced stigmas, prejudice, and intergroup bias. Possible implications of these findings are discussed.
The perception of structural boundaries in polyphonic representations of Western popular music
Authors: Bruderer Michael J. , Mckinney Martin F. , Kohlrausch Armin
Published: November 2015

This study presents two experiments on the perception of structural boundaries in Western popular music. In the first experiment, subjects segmented two polyphonic representations of six different songs. In the second experiment, subjects rated the salience of boundaries selected from the first experiment and indicated which musical cues were responsible for the boundaries. The overall frequency of boundary indications was highly correlated with the mean salience rating, suggesting that the number of boundary indications across subjects is a good measure of boundary salience. The strongest cues for boundaries indicated by subjects were harmonic-progression, rhythm-changes, timbre-changes, and tempo-changes. Furthermore, boundary indications and their salience ratings were compared with those from a previous study in which monophonic representations of the same songs had been used (Bruderer, McKinney, & Kohlrausch, 2009). Results show that the segment boundaries are perceived at similar time instances and their strengths are highly correlated across the three representations.
In the beginning: A brief history of infant music perception
Authors: Trehub Sandra E.
Published: November 2015

The study of infant music perception began in the 1970s—a time when young infants were considered incapable of holistic processing of auditory sequences. These limitations were reconsidered with the demonstration of infants’ configural processing of pitch and timing patterns, which presaged the vibrant field of study that unfolded over subsequent decades. The 1980s revealed the salience of melodic contour for infants as well as adult-like processing of pitch and timing patterns. The 1990s shed new light on intervals and scales, uncovering situations in which infant listeners outperformed their adult counterparts. Scholars in the new millennium have documented a number of factors that influence rhythm perception in infancy, including incidental exposure to music and the experience of movement during music listening. In addition, brain-based measures are shedding light on the musical sensitivities of newborn infants. In sum, the conception of infants vis-à-vis music has changed substantially over the past four decades. Moreover, research in this realm is influencing ongoing debate about the nature and origins of music.
Looking into the eyes of a conductor performing Lerdahl's “Time after Time”
Authors: Bigand E. , Lalitte P. , Lerdahl F. , Boucheix J-M , Gérard Y , Pozzo T.
Published: November 2015

The eye movements of a conductor were tracked during a performance of Lerdahl's “Time after time”. The analysis of the data revealed that, for most of the time, the conductor was looking at the score, rather than the performers. Most of the score-reading was in anticipation of the music to be played. Micro- and macro-anticipations could be defined, the former being between 2 to 5 seconds in advance, the later being more than 5 seconds in advance. The largest visual anticipations were as long as 10 seconds. The longer anticipations were found to correspond to the occurrence of those thematic cells the conductor considered to be of expressive importance for the piece. This suggests that the conductor's eye movements were governed on a small scale by the coordination of instrumental performance and on the large scale by his musical conception of the piece.
Le «syndrome» du pentatonisme africain
Authors: Arom Simha
Published: November 2015

Le pentatonisme anhémitonique est le système scalaire le plus répandu dans le monde. Considéré comme plus ancien que l'échelle diatonique, sa présence est attestée, aujourd'hui encore, sur les cinq continents. On peut y voir un phénomène universel. Dans certaines régions d'Afrique subsaharienne, où nombre de musiques traditionnelles reposent sur ce système, il est apparu que sa mise en ceuvre fait appel à deux precédés originaux, la permutation et la mutation. La permutation consiste en un décalage progressif des degrés de l'échelle d'une mélodie et, par corollaire, de la grandeur de certains intervalles, alors que dans la mutation, le décalage s'effectue à partir d'une hauteur constante. Dans un cas comme dans l'autre, toute mélodie peut se présenter sous l'une des cinq configurations que le système anhémitonique admet. Or, pour les dépositaires de la tradition, toutes les versions sont équivalentes. II en découle que le contour de la mélodie prime sur la grandeur des intervalles qui en séparent les degrés. Ce jugement cultural d'équivalence atteste que la conception du měme et du différent varie d'une société à l'autre. Les implications de ces pratiques intéressent aussi bien la recherche comparative en ethnomusicologie que les sciences cognitives. Pour expliquer et illustrer les manifestations de ce “syndrome”, l'article s'appuie sur des exemples puisés dans la musique savante occidentale et africaine traditionnelle.
Perceived Emotional Expression in Synthesized Performances of a Short Melody: Capturing the Listener's Judgment Policy
Authors: Juslin Patrik N.
Published: November 2015

Recent studies of music performance have shown that systematic variations in tempo, sound level, articulation, and timbre may be used by the performer to communicate representations of specific emotions to listeners. However, although performance analyses show that performers use certain cues to communicate emotions, they cannot explain how listeners use these cues to decode the expression. The purpose of this study was thus to examine listeners' cue utilization. This was done in two listening experiments using synthesized performances of a short melody. In the first experiment, an attempt was made to recreate representative cue profiles of five emotional expressions; happiness, sadness, anger, fear, and tenderness. The cues manipulated included tempo, sound level, spectrum, articulation, attack, vibrato, and timing. Listeners made forced choice judgments regarding the intended emotional expression. The results showed that (a) listeners were successful in decoding the intended emotional expression of the synthesized performances, (b) decoding accuracy was as high for synthesized performances as for live performances, and (c) reversal of the sequences reduced decoding accuracy to a larger extent for live performances than for synthesized performances, suggesting that live performances were relatively more dependent on prosodic contours. In the second experiment, five cues – tempo, sound level, spectrum, articulation, and attack – were systematically varied in a factorial design. Listeners were instructed to describe the emotional expression of each cue combination by ratings on adjective scales. An attempt to describe the listener's judgment policy was made using multiple regression. The results showed that (a) listeners used all of the available cues in their judgments, (b) none of the cues had more than a probabilistic (i.e., uncertain) relation to the listeners' judgments, (c) the predictive strength of each cue varied a lot depending on the emotion judged, and (d) the hypotheses based on our earlier studies of emotional expression in music performance (e.g., Gabrielsson & Juslin, 1996; Juslin; 1997d) were supported.
Discussing Serious News
Authors: Flint Hilary , Meyer Mark , Hossain Monir , Klein Melissa
Published: November 2015

Aim:

The ability to communicate serious news to patients and families in a caring and compassionate way is a critical skill for physicians. This study explores the impact of a novel communication skills workshop that included bereaved parents in role play on pediatric residents’ confidence to communicate serious news.

Methods:

Following the workshop, pediatric residents were surveyed to assess their perceived efficacy of the educational intervention. The survey included anchored response and open-ended questions to yield qualitative and quantitative results.

Results:

After completing the workshop, residents’ confidence in discussing goals, managing emotions, and expressing empathy all increased significantly. Residents reported that the inclusion of bereaved parents was beneficial since it made the experience more realistic. In addition, they believed their ability to communicate with patients and families had improved.

Conclusions:

Including bereaved parents in this communication skills workshop improved the residents’ confidence in discussing serious topics and enhanced the reality of the experience.
The Effects of Duration and Frequency of Achilles Tendon Stretching on Dorsiflexion and Outcome in Painful Heel Syndrome: A Randomized, Blinded, Control Study
Authors: Porter David , Barrill Erin , Oneacre Kathy , May Benjamin D.
Published: November 2015

The American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society recommends at least six months of nonsurgical treatment before considering surgical intervention for painful heel syndrome. Achilles tendon stretching exercises are consistently reported to be one of the more effective nonsurgical modalities for treatment of painful heel syndrome. However, the optimal duration and frequency of the exercises has not been reported. The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of sustained and intermittent Achilles tendon stretching for the relief of pain associated with painful heel syndrome. This prospective, randomized, blinded study was performed from May 1997 to July 2000. A total of 94 people (122 affected feet) fit the inclusion criterion and agreed initially to participate in a treatment study group. To achieve our purpose, study participants were randomized into two stretching groups. One group performed sustained Achilles tendon stretches (three minutes, three times daily), the other performed intermittent stretches (five sets, 20 seconds each, two times daily). Participants were evaluated once a month for a period of four months subsequent to diagnosis. At each monthly visit, participants completed subjective questionnaires about their pain. Also, a physical therapist measured each participant's Achilles tendon flexibility.

The study determined that both sustained and intermittent Achilles tendon stretching exercises increase Achilles tendon flexibility. This increase in flexibility correlated with a decrease in pain. There was no significant difference in outcome between the sustained and intermittent stretching groups. The data suggest that both sustained and intermittent Achilles tendon stretching exercises were effective nonsurgical treatments for painful heel syndrome.
Treatment of Talar Osteochondral Lesions Using Local Osteochondral Graft
Authors: Sammarco G. James , Makwana Nilesh K.
Published: November 2015

Twelve patients with an osteochondral lesion of the talus were treated with excision of the lesions and local osteochondral autogenous grafting. The lesion was accessed through a replaceable bone block removed from the anterior tibial plafond. The graft was harvested from the medial or lateral talar articular facet on the same side of the lesion. The average age of the patients was 41 years and duration of symptoms was 90 months (ave.). There were six males and six females with the right talus involved in eight and the left in four patients. Graft sizes ranged from four to eight millimeters in diameter.

There was a significant improvement in the AOFAS score from 64.4 (ave.) pre-operatively to 90.8 (ave.) postoperatively (p>0.0001), at a follow-up of 25.3 months (ave.). The AOFAS score was slightly higher in patients under 40 years of age and in those without pre-existing joint arthritis. All patients were very satisfied with the procedure. Arthroscopy performed in two patients at six and 12 months following surgery showed good graft incorporation. No complications occurred at the donor site or the site of bone block removal on the distal tibia. The results show that stage III and IV talar osteochondral lesions can be accessed successfully excising a tibial bone block and using local autogenous osteochondral graft harvested from the ipsilateral talar articular facet.
Biomechanical Evaluation of the Efficacy of External Stabilizers in the Conservative Treatment of Acquired Flatfoot Deformity
Authors: Imhauser Carl W. , Abidi Nicholas A. , Frankel David Z. , Gavin Kenneth , Siegler Sorin
Published: November 2015

This study quantified and compared the efficacy of in-shoe orthoses and ankle braces in stabilizing the hindfoot and medial longitudinal arch in a cadaveric model of acquired flexible flatfoot deformity. This was addressed by combining measurement of hindfoot and arch kinematics with plantar pressure distribution, produced in response to axial loads simulating quiet standing. Experiments were conducted on six fresh-frozen cadaveric lower limbs. Three conditions were tested: intact-unbraced; flatfoot-unbraced; and flatfoot-braced. Flatfoot deformity was created by sectioning the main support structures of the medial longitudinal arch. Six different braces were tested including two in-shoe orthoses, three ankle braces and one molded ankle-foot orthosis.

Our model of flexible flatfoot deformity caused the calcaneus to evert, the talus to plantarflex and the height of the talus and medial cuneiform to decrease. Flexible flatfoot deformity caused a pattern of medial shift in plantar pressure distribution, but minimal change in the location of the center of pressure. Furthermore, in-shoe orthoses stabilized both the hindfoot and the medial longitudinal arch, while ankle braces did not. Semi-rigid foot and ankle orthoses acted to stabilize the medial longitudinal arch. Based on these results, it was concluded that treatment of flatfoot deformity should at least include use of in-shoe orthoses to partially restore the arch and stabilize the hindfoot.
Reconstruction of the Cuboid in Compression Fractures: Short to Midterm Results in 12 Patients
Authors: Weber Martin , Locher Siegfried
Published: November 2015

Cuboid compression fractures are rare injuries, usually occurring in combination with medial midfoot fractures or dislocations. During a three year period 12 patients with cuboid fractures were operatively treated at our institution. Eleven patients had involvement of the tarsometatarsal 4 and 5 joints, four of the calcaneocuboid joint, and three of both the proximal and distal joints. The lateral column was shortened in five patients. Open reduction was facilitated using a distracting external fixator. Iliac crest corticocancellous grafts were necessary in seven patients. Single or double plate fixation was performed in eight, screw fixation alone in four patients. Follow-up ranged from 12 to 47 months. Results were good with respect to restoration of length, reconstruction of the joint facets and overall return to function. Minor residual symptoms were noted in one (of four) injured calcaneocuboid joints, in none (of 11) of the tarsometatarsal joints 4 and in two (of 11) of the tarsometatarsal joints 5. More frequently and to a greater extent symptoms arose from the associated midfoot injuries. Deformity and disability from cuboid compression fractures can effectively be prevented by immediate aggressive treatment consisting of open reduction and internal fixation.
Late Sequelae of Secondary Haglund's Deformity After Malunion of Tongue Type Calcaneal Fracture: Report of Two Cases
Authors: Jung Hong-geun , Yoo Moon-jib , Kim Myung-ho
Published: November 2015

We are reporting two cases of calcaneal fractures with posterior heel pain due to a prominent superior calcaneal tuberosity impinging on the Achilles tendon after a tongue type fracture. Malunion of the tongue fracture fragment resulted in the symptomatic bony prominence, which we defined as the secondary Haglund's deformity. Both cases were treated with resection of the superior calcaneal tuberosity when symptoms continued after non-surgical treatment. Clinical results after operations were both satisfactory with complete pain relief.
Transarticular Distal Soft-Tissue Release with an Arthroscopic Blade for Hallux Valgus Correction
Authors: Stamatis Emmanouil D. , Huber Martin H. , Myerson Mark S.
Published: November 2015

The few reported anatomic studies have proved the inconsistency of distal soft-tissue release for hallux valgus correction with both the open (dorsal) and transarticular approaches. Anatomic dissections were performed in 15 fresh-frozen human anatomic lower extremity specimens to evaluate the efficacy of the transarticular soft-tissue release utilizing an arthroscopic blade. The features of the arthroscopic blade, such as continuous cutting surface in all edges, increased length as compared with the No. 15 scalpel blade, and flexibility that permits bending without the likelihood of breakage, substantially increase its efficacy during the transarticular soft-tissue release, allowing for complete release of the lateral sesamoid ligament, lateral metatarsophalangeal capsule, and the adductor hallucis tendon insertion onto the proximal phalangeal base. Based on these observations, the authors recognized the inherent limitations of the transarticular approach for complete adductor release from the lateral sesamoid. Transarticular release including the lateral sesamoid ligament, lateral metatarsophalangeal capsule, and the adductor hallucis tendon insertion onto the proximal phalangeal base utilizing the arthroscopic blade is a versatile, reproducible, safe, and easy technique that should be expected to have decreased morbidity and improved cosmesis compared with the open approach.