Clear Purpose Research Articles

Expert consensus on human use experience research of traditional Chinese medicine

Human use experience(HUE) is important for the research and development of Chinese medicine. For the sake of more reliable data, the Professional Committee for Clinical Evaluation of Chinese Medicine of Chinese Pharmaceutical Association drafted the Expert Consensus on Human Use Experience Research of Traditional Chinese Medicine. It highlights that the research on HUE should have clear purposes, describe the theoretical basis of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) for the clinical indications and prescriptions and the clinical value of prescriptions, especially the advantages or characteristics in clinical orientation and target population, evaluate the dosages and number of medicinals of prescriptions, verify the accordance with the preparation process of new Chinese medicine, analyze feasibility of the process for large-scale production and the rationality of the dosage form, and assess the medicinal material resources. Moreover, such research should have reasonable protocol and the collection of clinical data on HUE must comply with medical ethics and avoid conflicts of interest. The collection method should be selected depending on the characteristics of clinical data. Quality control measures should be formulated to ensure the authenticity, accuracy, completeness, reliability, and traceability of clinical data. The definitions on the clinical data should be uniform and clear, and methods should be adopted to avoid bias. The data can be statistically analyzed after the processing. Through the study of HUE, the clinical orientation, target population, commonly used dosage, course of treatment, preliminary efficacy and safety of Chinese medicine prescriptions will be clarified. On this basis, the data on the HUE should be discussed and conclusions will be drawn. Finally, a standardized report will be formed.

Revisiting the Codex Buranus: Contents, Contexts, Compositions ed. by Tristan E. Franklinos and Henry Hope

Reviewed by: Revisiting the Codex Buranus: Contents, Contexts, Compositions ed. by Tristan E. Franklinos and Henry Hope Joseph W. Mason Tristan E. Franklinos and Henry Hope, eds. Revisiting the Codex Buranus: Contents, Contexts, Compositions. Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Music 21. Woodbridge: Boydell & Brewer, 2020. xv, 462 pp., 32 color ills. £60. ISBN: 9781783273799. One of the most famous manuscripts and songbooks from the Middle Ages, the Codex Buranus (Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Clm 4660) has fascinated and divided scholars for over a century. Considered in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to be the creations of wandering poets and defrocked clerics, the codex’s contents are today understood to be the product of an intellectual clerical milieu somewhere in southern Austria. The texts span an extraordinary range, covering numerous topics: love, church politics, morality and religious devotion, sexual violence, drinking and gambling. These texts are in Latin but in several cases have German texts appended, and in a handful of cases have interpolations in Romance languages [End Page 402] or Greek. Most of the items are songs, for which music notation (not on a stave and unheightened) is sometimes provided; other items include plays and miniatures. Together, these varied contents point to the creation and performance of poetry in an intellectual community whose rich and kaleidoscopic knowledge of medieval lyric poetry, classical verse, liturgy, and patristics is demonstrated in the intertextual richness on display throughout the codex. Revisiting the Codex Buranus examines the manuscript from numerous perspectives and gathers contributions by scholars from a range of disciplines. As the editors of this collection of essays, Tristan E. Franklinos and Henry Hope, point out, such interdisciplinary expertise is essential when dealing with a manuscript whose contents are so varied, and which does not fit neatly into the purview of any single modern discipline (5). The collection’s aims, as stated by the editors, are threefold: first, to document and summarize scholarly study of the Codex Buranus; second, to engage afresh with debates about the manuscript from the perspectives of different disciplines; and third, “to encourage fresh modes of engagement with its contents, its contexts, and its composition” (6). These aims are achieved in different ways, with some essays focused more on assessing old debates, whereas others offer new readings. While readers of this journal might be disappointed not to find any significant new contributions from codicologists or philologists, the volume nevertheless brings many fresh perspectives to the literary and musical contents of the codex. Approximately half of the volume is dedicated to the Latin poetry of the codex, appropriately so, since most of the contents are Latin. Carmen Cardelle de Hartmann explores the Latin items that parody the Bible and liturgy, often with a critical moral intent, such as the famous Gamblers’ Mass; other items, such as parodies of love songs, have a less clear purpose, and inter-textual readings of them are consequently more difficult. Cardelle de Hart-mann also theorizes “parodic neighbourhoods” (61), small groups of songs that, when read against each other, parody one another. Satire in the Codex Buranus is discussed by David A. Traill, who notes three principal subjects of satirical treatment: the poets themselves, clerics and monks, and confession. Albrecht Classen examines the combination and intersections of learned and erotic discourses in the Latin poetry, asking what (sometimes graphic) [End Page 403] sexual poetry meant to clerical readers and listeners: he concludes that these were songs by male poets intended for a male audience. The thematization of peasants and peasant life in the Latin poetry is taken up by the late Peter Godman, whose chapter shows that the songs’ attitudes toward the lower classes, and especially lower-class women, is inflected by the clerical worldview of the songs’ authors. Two chapters draw on these themes, and more, by looking at individual cases. Jonathan Seelye Martin presents a sensitive reading of Ich was ein kint so wol getân (CB 185), a song which some scholars have viewed as a celebration of rape. Instead, the chapter argues that we might view the song as a didactic piece that teaches medieval women about the dangers that extramarital sex posed to a woman’s reputation. Franklinos presents...

From the President andIFSTNews

From the President and<scp>IFST</scp>News

고려 전기 의관(醫官) 양성과 송 의직(醫職)의 변용

This study attempted to examine how Sung’s medical system affected the medical education and medical doctor selection system in Goryeo during the exchange with Sung. The Goryeo government made efforts to improve the new medical environment by requesting the dispatch of medical doctors to Sung, medical documents, and medicinal materials. The Goryeo government requested Sung to send medical officers several times. While staying in Goryeo, the medical doctors helped change the medical environment of Goryeo. In particular, during the reign of King Sukjong and King Yejong, the request for the dispatch of Sung medical officers was made with a clear purpose of medical education. Such visits by Sung medical officers and their medical activities directly and indirectly influenced the improvement of the medical education and medical doctor selection system in Goryeo. The direction of change in the official position of Tae-Eui-Gam, a medical administrative organization of Goryeo, meant strengthening the status of medical institutions and promoting medical education. Dr. Ju Geum was not a professor from the beginning, but was arranged in a compromise between the name of the party’s professor position and Sung’s professional and educational method. It was influenced by the Sung system such as Tae-Eui-Guk, a specialized medical education institution in Sung, and Hallim-Euigwan, which was the professor. It is believed that in Goryeo, a pharmacy was separately installed as an organization dedicated to medical education from Tae-Eui-Gam and operated by changing the method according to Wang An-shi’s New Policy. The improvement of the medical office system and the promotion of medical education in Goryeo reflect the relatively rapid influx and influence of Sung’s medical background knowledge in the active traffic between Goryeo and Sung.

Igbo funeral songs: Exploring their major themes

Death, transition and other related terms are used by various human societies to communicate the ending of all formal functions and processes in the life of a living organism. When death occurs, it causes an emotional outburst which people express in forms of chants, recitations and dirges. In most parts of Africa, the death of an adult member of the society goes with the rendition of some songs in honour of the deceased and to contemplate on death as a natural phenomenon during the funeral. The Igbo of South Eastern Nigeria, through funeral, send off the deceased solemnly as she/he was welcomed at birth. The essence of this is captured in Igbo cosmic thought and in many funeral songs. Therefore, the focus of this paper is to identify some strands of meaning which most Igbo funeral songs convey and to also highlight their basic thematic constructs. The paper applied expository and analytical methods of research for data collection. It then observed that Igbo funeral songs have a clear identifiable purpose because in them are expressed different phases of grief and they serve valuable purposes in the various Igbo communities where they are rendered.

A Program for Valuing Mental Health Lived Experience in Social Work Education

ABSTRACT Participation and involvement of service users, carers, and families into the design, delivery, evaluation, and development of mental health policy and services is now a standard expectation. As social workers are employed in mental health settings, it is vital that graduates understand and ethically engage with mental health consumers, survivors, ex-patients, and family (CSX + F) in a meaningful and authentic manner. We argue this extends to fostering critical understandings of dominant discourses about distress, trauma, diagnosis, and intervention as a routine component of social work education. The Valuing Lived Experience Program (VLEP) described in this article within the Curtin University School of Allied Health aims to meaningfully embed the voices of people with lived experience of mental distress, trauma, and service use into the education of tertiary students and academics. Lived experience education in social work is vitally important and requires appropriate resourcing, clear purpose and principles, and attention to the democratisation of knowledge in order to achieve epistemic justice. In this article, the authors describe and contextualise the VLEP as a contemporary example of how lived experience in social work education can occur and be developed. IMPLICATIONS Meaningful participation of people with mental health lived experience is important to social work education. Lived experience education needs to be underpinned by clear ethical and theoretical principles for teaching and learning. Programs that rigorously engage with lived experience in mental health education can make a positive contribution to critical understandings of mental distress.

Teachers’ Perceptions of Code-Switching Functions and Effects in English as a Foreign Language Classroom

&lt;p style="text-align: justify;"&gt;The purpose of this study was to look into teachers' perceptions of code-switching functions and effects in English as a foreign language classroom. In the study, a descriptive survey design and an interview were used to investigate the functions and effects of code-switching in English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom. 46 people responded to the survey questionnaire about code-switching functions and their impact in the classroom. Seven teachers participated in the group interview. The interview findings revealed six functions and four effects of code-switching. According to the survey findings, the majority of teachers supported the use of code-switching in their classrooms because it served a useful purpose in the process of teaching and learning English. The findings also revealed that teachers believed code-switching provided a clear purpose and had a positive impact on instruction and language development in EFL classrooms by creating a sociable environment. It was also demonstrated that code-switching to teachers was effective in EFL classrooms and played an important role in English learning and teaching. The implications of the findings for EFL teachers and language learning settings were discussed.&lt;/p&gt;

Who Sociology Is

C. Wright Mills said developing a sociological imagination meant considering the link between history and biography. Drawing stylistically from David Markson’s This is Not a Novel, this textual experiment presents biographical fragments without a coherent narrative or clear purpose. Questions that might emerge: how is sociology related to its creators and practitioners’ biographies? How do details on individual sickness, mortality, and character affect an understanding of others and the self? How might biographical fragments compel reading, pauses, and further reading? Who counts as part of a field, and why? What effect does sequence have on information? Whose contributions, and/or lives, are valorized, remembered, marginalized, or forgotten? What do people say, and what do they do? How does the selection, representation, and categorization of sociologist’s biographical and demographic details, and life histories (key elements in sociological research), help re-imagine those concerned with generalizing about others?

Designing Dietary Education Materials for People With Chronic Kidney Disease: Recommendations for Improving the Quality of Resources

The aim of this study is to quantify the readability, actionability, understandability, and overall quality of dietary education resources designed for patients and published in the Journal of Renal Nutrition. All patient education materials published in the "Patient Education" section of the journal from 2011 to 2021 were included. The readability, health literacy demand, and quality were evaluated using the Hemingway editor, Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Clear Communication Index (CDC CCI) respectively. Good quality materials were those with a reading grade level of ≤8; a Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool score of >70% (indicating materials were understandable and actionable), and a CDC CCI score >90%. A total of 42 resources were evaluated. Most materials (92%) were written at an appropriate level of readability (median grade 5, interquartile range [IQR: 5-7). The median understandability score was 71% (IQR: 60-81); however, only half (52%) of the materials met the 70% benchmark. Materials published performed poorly for actionability with the median actionability score of 37% (IQR: 20-83), and only 29% met the benchmark score. Overall quality was scored as low, with a median CDC CCI score of 65%, and only 10% of materials met the benchmark score. Areas for improvement were identified including providing a clear purpose, and summary of important points, explaining numbers and how to perform calculations, and including at least one action to take. Future efforts to improve actionability need to use the active voice, directly address readers, explain how to act, and describe the steps required. Patient education materials that are attentive to health literacy principles beyond readability may enhance patient engagement, confidence, and empowerment, and improve adherence to the kidney diet.

Bridging the Invisible Cultural Gap

Bridging the Invisible Cultural Gap

ON THE CLASSIFICATION OF THE PRINCIPLES OF ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEEDINGS AND ADMINISRTATIVE PROCEDURE OF THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN

The article deals with the classification of the basic principles of administrative procedures. The main attention is paid to the identification of the main functions, the system and the hierarchy of principles. The scientific novelty lies in the study of important subordinate guiding principles, the influence of which is decisive for the principles of administrative procedures, and therefore for the entire system of public administration. The author concludes that everyone has the right to a fair and public hearing of the case within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial court established on the basis of the law in the event of a dispute about his civil rights and obligations or when any charge is brought against him. A brief overview of the basic principles of administrative procedures and their implementation in the countries of the near and far abroad was made. Thus, further analysis of the basic principles of administrative procedures is necessary. At the same time, the institution of administrative procedures, especially their principles, as well as the principles of administrative law in general, for the legislator and even the doctrine still remain largely unexplored and poorly understood problem. The author also concluded that the main feature of the principles of administrative procedures is their direct effect and specific regularity. The principles of administrative procedures are formulated not as declarations, but with a clear and pragmatic purpose — to act as special means of legal regulation. The principles of procedures are intended to become a reference point not only for the legislator, but also (which is extremely important) for the law enforcement officer. The author also believes that the principles of administrative procedures are a special group of principles of managerial administrative law. The principles define the essence of dynamic regulatory activity of public administration. The consistency of the principles is determined by the prevailing procedural doctrines. Thus, further analysis of the basic principles of administrative procedures is necessary.

제도 대화에서의 질문 유형과 효과성 분석 : 국무총리 인사청문회를 중심으로

The purpose of this study is to analyze confirmation hearings for Prime Minister Nominees from the perspective of institutional conversation analysis, to identify what types of questions politicians use and their effectiveness related to the institutional context. The data consist of confirmation hearings for the 45th former Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon and the 46th former Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, and were transcribed and analyzed based on the transcription system suggested by Gail Jefferson. The findings show that a confirmation hearing is a highly institutionalized conversation that has legal regulations on the turn-taking system and time limit for speaking with a clear purpose of verifying the qualification of bureaucrat nominees. Questioners set topical agenda and strategically used questions in the form of polar, alternative, and close-ended with prefaced statements implying specific presuppositions to limit the nominees' answers. Questioners recognized and performed their role under the institutional context, and at the same time played the role of an intermediary relaying the answer to the listener outside the conversation situation. Questions have significance in that they are being used as an effective means to achieve the institutional purpose of the confirmation hearing system.

Istanbul as a "City of Design"

Istanbul as a "City of Design"

Variable or Fixed? Exploring Entrustment Decision Making in Workplace- and Simulation-Based Assessments.

Many models of competency-based medical education (CBME) emphasize assessing entrustable professional activities (EPAs). Despite the centrality of EPAs, researchers have not compared rater entrustment decisions for the same EPA across workplace- and simulation-based assessments. This study aimed to explore rater entrustment decision making across these 2 assessment settings. An interview-based study using a constructivist grounded theory approach was conducted. Gastroenterology faculty at the University of Toronto and the University of Calgary completed EPA assessments of trainees' endoscopic polypectomy performance in both workplace and simulation settings between November 2019 and January 2021. After each assessment, raters were interviewed to explore how and why they made entrustment decisions within and across settings. Transcribed interview data were coded iteratively using constant comparison to generate themes. Analysis of 20 interviews with 10 raters found that participants (1) held multiple meanings of entrustment and expressed variability in how they justified their entrustment decisions and scoring, (2) held personal caveats for making entrustment decisions "comfortably" (i.e., authenticity, task-related variability, opportunity to assess trainee responses to adverse events, and the opportunity to observe multiple performances over time), (3) experienced cognitive tensions between formative and summative purposes when assessing EPAs, and (4) experienced relative freedom when using simulation to formatively assess EPAs but constraint when using only simulation-based assessments for entrustment decision making. Participants spoke about and defined entrustment variably, which appeared to produce variability in how they judged entrustment across participants and within and across assessment settings. These rater idiosyncrasies suggest that programs implementing CBME must consider how such variability affects the aggregation of EPA assessments, especially those collected in different settings. Program leaders might also consider how to fulfill raters' criteria for comfortably making entrustment decisions by ensuring clear definitions and purposes when designing and integrating workplace- and simulation-based assessments.

EFFORTS TO INCREASE PERFORMANCE THROUGH OPTIMIZATION OF WORK DISCIPLINE

Teacher performance is a parameter for school success, and one of the instruments attached is discipline. Logically, disciplined behavior indicates measurable action on a task. Where teachers make rules as work standards, so that everything has a clear basis, strength, and purpose. In the end, discipline can direct teachers to be able to carry out their duties properly and correctly, and be oriented to satisfying results. This study aims to describe and analyze performance improvement based on discipline aspects. The research principle used is quantitative with associative methods. The analysis technique of the research results uses linear regression statistics with the stages of testing including; validity, reliability, classical assumptions, and hypothesis testing. The object of the research was conducted at SMP Muhammadiyah 29 Sawangan, Depok, and the sample of the research was 50 teachers. Research data obtained through the distribution of questionnaires. The results of the study explain, if the performance will increase significantly, if the teacher's discipline behavior increases. Even in the descriptive test, it is known that obedient and obedient attitudes to school rules and regulations are the dominant parameters for good work completion, and have implications for satisfactory resultsKeywords: Teacher, Performance, Discipline, School

Brand purpose, authenticity and impact measurement

COVID-19 has changed the world. The post-pandemic world will not be the same as it was before March 2020. In a world where many marketing and business elements were already experiencing a technological revolution and having to adapt practices, COVID-19 accelerated change, eliciting a rapid move to a virtual world. Alongside new digital behaviours there are greater demands on organisations from stakeholders to demonstrate behaviours and actions that engender trust. Customers want reassurance that personal data and privacy will be protected by organisations with good governance in place. Stakeholders also have growing awareness of environmental issues and their power of influence on organisational behaviour and sustainability. Organisations face increased pressure too to behave ethically on social issues around diversity, equality and inclusion. All of these factors place greater demands on organisations to demonstrate clear brand purpose that inspires trust. And actions must match words. Stakeholders and customers will not accept empty promises or deceptive practices. The COVID-19 pandemic has also wrought political and economic disruption, and stakeholders — customers, employees and shareholders — have increasingly sought refuge in brands as trust in government, state institutions and media has fallen. This disruption has also seen social media overtaking traditional media as a source of news and information. This rapid change has created both opportunity and challenge for communicators and marketers. This paper suggests that, to thrive in the post-pandemic environment, organisations that seek to reassert their purpose and values and demonstrate authentic behaviour in delivering on their promises are likely to establish deeper trust and a strong reputation. To measure the impact of purpose, authenticity and trust, it is necessary to develop a framework that evaluates and takes into account exposure, comment, enablement and interaction; considers multiple stakeholder and audience groups; and aligns communications goals with organisational objectives.

Capitalising on brand purpose: Creating brand equity and business value from the ground up

Curacao is one of the most trusted brands in the US Hispanic community. It has earned the trust of its customers and the broader, multigenerational, US Hispanic community with a clear purpose of helping to improve the standard of living of its core community. The brand consistently delivers on this purpose with a 360-degree proposition that provides access to credit, financial education and household products and services, as well as through social connections and culturally relevant programming at its network of physical stores, employment and charitable contributions via the Curacao Foundation. With over four decades of commitment to its community, the brand has gained sufficient credibility and is now able to leverage its customer relationships and data to increase its business value. It is now bolstering its portfolio of products and services through strategic partnerships and expanding its offering nationally through e-commerce and retail media to ensure steady growth and profitability in the years to come.

Social Entrepreneurship Conceptual Approaches

Social entrepreneurship defines organizations or initiatives that, by producing and/or transacting goods or services, seek new solutions to persistent social problems, thus generating high social value. In other words, that deliberately subject their economic strategy to social priorities and place the social mission at the center of their concerns. Such social priorities include poverty, unemployment, education, health, local development, or the environment. Outside this common base, the aggregation of other characteristics or delimitations has given rise to conceptual fuzziness, namely, as to the organizational forms to be adopted (restricted to non-profit organizations or open to for-profit businesses with clear social purposes) and the weight of the social dimension in SE. Another manifestation of conceptual malleability emerges from the coexistence of different schools of thought. On the opposite side, one notes the narrowing of the concept, which mainly derives from a Westernized vision and still pays little attention to the contributions from developing countries. In addition to analyzing these topics, the current entry points out some recommendations regarding the deepening of scientific research in this field.

Incorporating Consumers' Needs in Nutrition Apps to Promote and Maintain Use: Mixed Methods Study.

Nutrition apps seem to be promising tools for supporting consumers toward healthier eating habits. There is a wide variety of nutrition apps available; however, users often discontinue app use at an early stage before a permanent change in dietary behavior can be achieved. The main objective of this study was to identify, from both a user and nonuser perspective, which functionalities should be included in nutrition apps to increase intentions to start and maintain use of these apps. A secondary objective was to gain insight into reasons to quit using nutrition apps at an early stage. This study used a mixed methods approach and included a qualitative and a quantitative study. The qualitative study (n=40) consisted of a home-use test with 6 commercially available nutrition apps, followed by 6 focus group discussions (FGDs) to investigate user experiences. The quantitative study was a large-scale survey (n=1420), which was performed in a representative sample of the Dutch population to quantify the FGDs' results. In the survey, several app functionalities were rated on 7-point Likert scales ranging from 1 (very unimportant) to 7 (very important). A total of 3 different phases of app use, subdivided into 10 user-centric app aspects and 46 associated app functionalities, were identified as relevant nutrition app elements in the FGDs. Relevance was confirmed in the survey, as all user-centric aspects and almost all app functionalities were rated as important to include in a nutrition app. In the starting phase, a clear introduction (mean 5.45, SD 1.32), purpose (mean 5.40, SD 1.40), and flexible food tracking options (mean 5.33, SD 1.45) were the most important functionalities. In the use phase, a complete and reliable food product database (mean 5.58, SD 1.41), easy navigation (mean 5.56, SD 1.36), and limited advertisements (mean 5.53, SD 1.51) were the most important functionalities. In the end phase, the possibility of setting realistic goals (mean 5.23, SD 1.44), new personal goals (mean 5.13, SD 1.45), and continuously offering new information (mean 4.88, SD 1.44) were the most important functionalities. No large differences between users, former users, and nonusers were found. The main reason for quitting a nutrition app in the survey was the high time investment (14/38, 37%). This was also identified as a barrier in the FGDs. Nutrition apps should be supportive in all 3 phases of use (start, use, and end) to increase consumers' intentions to start and maintain the use of these apps and achieve a change in dietary behavior. Each phase includes several key app functionalities that require specific attention from app developers. High time investment is an important reason to quit nutrition app use at an early stage.

General Practitioners' Perspectives on Appropriate Use of Ultrasonography in Primary Care in Denmark: A Multistage Mixed Methods Study.

Researchers aimed to describe general practitioners' understanding of appropriate ultrasound use, to record actual scanning practices of early adopters in general practice, and to identify differences between attitudes and actual practice via a mixed methods analysis. This study was part of a larger multistage mixed methods research framework exploring the use of ultrasound in general practice in Denmark. We used an exploratory sequential approach in the data collection with initial qualitative findings from an interview study applied to building a quantitative questionnaire utilized in a cohort study. In addition, we merged the qualitative and quantitative data using joint display analysis to compare and contrast the results from the 2 stages of the study. In the interviews, general practitioners described appropriate ultrasound use as point-of-care examinations with a clear purpose and limited to predefined specific conditions within delimited anatomic areas. They stated that general practitioners should receive formalized ultrasound training and be skilled in the examinations they perform. In the cohort study, general practitioners performed ultrasound examinations of anatomic areas with or without a defined clinical suspicion. Some performed ultrasound examinations for which they had no previous training or skills. We found a difference between the ideas about the appropriate uses for ultrasound in general practice and the actual use by early adopters in clinical practice. Our findings suggest a need for evidence-based guidelines to support general practitioners in choosing which examinations to perform and strategies for developing and maintaining scanning competency.