Neither partisan nor judgemental, the author commendably preserves a detached yet sympathetic tone throughout.

I asked the whey-faced local behind the fryer, in a sympathetic tone.

Essentially, physiologic parameters are measured in order to assess sympathetic tone as a surrogate measure of stress.

This drop causes reversible decreases in thyroid activity, sympathetic tone, and energy expenditure in skeletal muscle, and increases in muscle efficiency and parasympathetic tone.

Central nervous system disorders can lead to increased sympathetic tone and/or catecholamine release, which lead to cardiac overstimulation.