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Excess weight and poor quality diets are known to be major and manageable causes of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) but the optimal diet for the prevention and reduction of CVD risk is not known. The purpose of this paper is to compare the effects of low‐fat and low‐GI diets on weight loss, liver function and CVD risk factors.

In total, 18 overweight/obese females were randomly assigned to eight weeks of either isocalorie (1,200 kcal day) low‐fat (<20 per cent energy intake as fat) or low‐GI (≤40 per cent energy intake as carbohydrate) diet. Participants kept a one week food and drink intake diary prior to starting the prescribed diet (week 0) and during weeks 4 and 8 of the diet. BMI, blood pressure, serum lipids, AST and ALT concentrations were measured at specific time intervals.

The low‐fat group reported more adequate micronutrient intake than the low‐GI group. Mean weight, BMI and systolic blood pressure reduced significantly in each group but there was no significant difference between groups. There was no significant change in mean LDL, HDL and total cholesterol concentration within and between groups. Mean triglyceride reduced significantly (33 per cent) in the low‐GI group but there was no significant change in the low‐fat group. The low‐GI diet significantly reduced ALT concentration by 16 per cent after four weeks but there was no significant change for the low‐fat group.

The paper shows that a low‐GI diet may be more effective at reducing CVD risk and improving liver function than a low‐fat diet. This extends data on a previous studies that compared low‐fat and low‐GI diets.

To provide a summary of the principles, theories and basic components of a recently developed brief integrated motivational intervention (BIMI) for working with individuals experience co-ccurring severe mental health and substance use problems in inpatient settings, including the outcomes of a feasiblity randomised controlled trial (RCT). There are greater financial costs and a negative impact on functioning associated with psychiatric admissions for people who experience co-occurring severe mental heath and substance misuse problems. In addition, their engagement in treatment is often problematic.

The BIMI described was evaluated via a feasibility RCT that assessed whether the opportunity to discuss use of substances whilst on an inpatient ward represented an opportunity to engage inpatients in thinking about their use and the impact it has on their mental health.

The BIMI is delivered in short burst sessions of 15-30 minutes over a two-week period adopting a simple 3-step approach that can be delivered by routine ward staff. It incorporates an assessment of substance use, mental health and motivation followed by personalised feedback, a focus on increasing awareness of the impact on mental health and development of goals and a change plan. The intervention has been shown to lead to higher levels of engagement in clients exploration of substance use and the impact on mental health. Findings suggest both staff and inpatients found the intervention feasible and acceptable.

Routine ward staff were trained to deliver a brief intervention to inpatients during an acute hospital admission.

This synthesis covers academic research on the use of valuation, tax, information technology (IT), and forensic specialists on audit engagements. The importance and role of specialists on audit engagements have recently increased, and specialist use has garnered significant attention from regulators and academics. Given the PCAOB’s (2017b) recent proposal to revise auditing standards regarding specialists’ involvement, it is important to review the specialist literature as a whole. By integrating research across these four domains, I identify commonalities and differences related to: (1) factors associated with the use of specialists on audit engagements (including the nature, timing, and extent of use); (2) factors impacting auditors’ interactions with specialists (including specialists contracted by the auditor or management); and (3) outcomes associated with the use of specialists. This integrated analysis of the specialist literatures shows variation in the use of specialists, and various factors affecting both if and how they are involved and whether auditors use specialists internal or external to the audit firm. Additionally, research has sometimes (but not always) linked specialist involvement to higher audit quality. The commonalities and areas of variation identified are informative to audit research and practice, particularly as regulators and audit firms look to improve the quality of audits using specialists. Throughout the synthesis, I also provide a number of directions for future research.

In light of the challenge the fashion industry faces to be more body shape-inclusive, several brands now feature curvy models (large breasts and buttocks, wide hips and a small waist) in their online advertising. Gaps exist in the understanding of the influence of these models on young consumers’ perceptions of body ideals and advertising effectiveness. This study aims to investigate how brief exposure to idealized thin and curvy models in Instagram fashion advertising affects young female consumers’ body type preferences and clothing purchase intentions.

Data were collected from 245 late-adolescent girls, aged 17–19 years, through online questionnaires. Participants were randomly assigned to view Instagram fashion advertising featuring thin or curvy models before reporting on study variables.

Results revealed that girls expressed a preference for the body type to which they were exposed. However, they indicated a higher intention to purchase clothes worn by thin models than those worn by curvy models despite rating both thin and curvy models as equally attractive. This effect held even when controlling for participants’ body size.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first known study to experimentally examine the effects of curvy models featured in Instagram fashion advertising on late-adolescent girls’ body type preferences and clothing purchase intentions. The study shows that purchase intentions do not necessarily follow body type preferences. Findings also highlight the role that advertisement content has in promoting idealized, yet frequently unattainable, body types. Marketers are encouraged to weigh the ethical implications of their use of these extreme body types.

To review and synthesize findings from peer-reviewed research related to students’ sources of ideas for writing, and instructional dimensions that affect students’ development of ideas for composition in grades K-8.

The ideas or content expressed in written composition are considered critical to ratings of writing quality. We utilized a Systematic Mixed Studies Review (SMSR) methodological framework (Heyvaert, Maes, & Onghena, 2011) to explore K-8 students’ ideas and writing from a range of theoretical and methodological perspectives.

Students’ ideas for writing originate from a range of sources, including teachers, peers, literature, content area curriculum, autobiographical/life experiences, popular culture/media, drawing, and play. Intertextuality, copying, social dialogue, and playful peer interactions are productive strategies K-8 writers use to generate ideas for composing, in addition to strategies introduced through planned instruction. Relevant dimensions of instruction include motivation to write, idea planning and organization, as well as specific instructional strategies, techniques, and tools to facilitate idea generation and selection within the composition process.

A permeable curriculum and effective instructional practices are crucial to support students’ access to a full range of ideas and knowledge-based resources, and help them translate these into written composition. Instructional practices for idea development and writing: (a) connect reading and writing for authentic purposes; (b) include explicit modeling of strategies for planning and “online” generation of ideas throughout the writing process across genre; (c) align instructional focus across reading, writing, and other curricular activities; (d) allow for extended time to write; and (e) incorporate varied, flexible participation structures through which students can share ideas and receive teacher/peer feedback on writing.

Constructive deviance has received increasing attention across the last 20 years. However, because the distinction between constructive and traditional forms of deviance (i.e., destructive) is based on the intent behind the behaviors, it can be difficult to determine which acts are constructive. As an umbrella construct consisting of several forms of deviant acts (e.g., whistle-blowing, employee voice, necessary evils), research into constructive deviance has largely remained focused on the individual behaviors to date. While advancements have been made, this focus has limited the consideration of an overarching understanding of constructive deviance in the workplace. Further, constructs like constructive deviance that straddle the bounds between beneficial and detrimental necessitate the exploration into their antecedents as determined by the employees (i.e., apples), their environments (e.g., barrels), or some combination of the two. The author seeks to advance the research in constructive deviance by proposing a testable model. In which, the author develops an interactionist perspective of the antecedents to reposition constructive deviance as the acts of good employees in restrictive or negative environments. In doing so, the author considers how various aspects of individuals, their organizational environments, and the influence of their leaders interact. The author then develops a multi-stakeholder approach to the outcomes of constructive deviance to consider how the various parties (i.e., organization, coworkers, customers) are expected to respond and how these responses impact the more distal outcomes as well as the likelihood of engaging in future constructive deviance.