Combination Of Self Research Articles

Assessing the influence of self and collective efficacy on volunteering following a natural disaster

Following hurricane Katrina, many New Orleanians evacuated to Baton Rouge. Despite a significant outpouring of assistance, not everyone engaged in pro-social behaviors during this time. Some felt an obligation to help yet failed to donate their time to assist those displaced by the storm. Prior studies have examined pro-social behavior following a natural disaster as a product of self or collective efficacy. Analyzing data from interviews with Baton Rouge area residents two months after Katrina, we explore the role of self and collective efficacy on helping activity and volunteering in shelters for evacuees. This study advances the extant literature by exploring an interactive model to provide a more accurate assessment of how self and collective efficacy work contemporaneously to influence different forms of pro-social behavior. Results suggest the likelihood of helping others or volunteering after a disaster are, in part, dependent on a nuanced combination of self and collective efficacy.

Sustainability champions: A proactive perspective on the inter-organizational job design dynamics of sustainability implementation

Implementing sustainability is a complex and challenging process that requires the collaboration and commitment of multiple stakeholders within supply chains. Existing research has largely overlooked the role of individual employees who can act as change agents and proactively initiate and facilitate sustainability initiatives. In this paper, we propose a proactive job design perspective to understand how these sustainability champions can balance the demands and resources related to sustainability in and across organizations. We suggest that they can use a combination of self- and partner-focused sustainability regulation strategies to influence the sustainability resources of their supply chain partners and create inter-organizational Job Demands-Resources dynamics that can enhance or hinder sustainability implementation. We develop a set of propositions that can guide future research on this topic and offer practical implications for organizations that want to foster employee proactivity and sustainability in their supply chains.

Joint-individual fusion structure with fusion attention module for multi-modal skin cancer classification

Many convolutional neural network (CNN) based approaches for skin cancer classification primarily rely on dermatological images, yielding commendable results in classification accuracy. However, leveraging patient metadata, a crucial source of clinical information for dermatologists, can further enhance accuracy. Current methodologies predominantly employ basic joint fusion structures (FS) and fusion modules (FMs) for multi-modal classification, leaving room for advancement in enhancing accuracy through exploration of more sophisticated FS and FM architectures. Thus, this paper introduces a novel fusion method that integrates dermatological images (dermoscopy images or clinical images) with patient metadata for skin cancer classification, focusing on enhancing FS and FM components. Initially, we propose a joint-individual fusion (JIF) structure that simultaneously learns shared features across multi-modality data while preserving specific characteristics. Subsequently, we introduce a multi-modal fusion attention (MMFA) module designed to amplify the most relevant image and metadata features through a combination of self and mutual attention mechanisms, thereby bolstering the decision-making pipeline. Our study compares the efficacy of the proposed JIF-MMFA method with other state-of-the-art fusion techniques across three distinct public datasets. Results demonstrate that the JIF-MMFA method consistently enhances classification outcomes across various CNN backbones, outperforming alternative fusion methodologies on all three datasets. These findings underscore the effectiveness and robustness of our proposed approach in skin cancer classification.

Donors' self‐ and other‐oriented motives for selecting charitable causes

AbstractMillions of charities compete for charitable donations, yet the underlying factors influencing individuals' preferences for specific causes remain relatively poorly understood. Building upon the ongoing scholarly debate about whether charitable behaviors are more altruistically or egoistically motivated, this study employs a self and other orientation framework to explore the preferences captured in a community survey (N = 987) to identify the various motivations relevant to donors' decision‐making processes. Our study contributes significantly to our understanding of charitable cause selection. First, it uncovers diverse motives directly endorsed by donors, offering insight into the multifaceted factors influencing preferences. Second, it unveils distinctive constellations of motives related to self and other orientations, shedding light on the underlying drivers of charitable actions. Third, it delineates the impact of various identity motives on charitable preferences. Specifically, we find that self‐oriented motives are associated with preferences for environmental and research causes, while other‐oriented motives exhibit a strong link with preferences for housing and development causes. Additionally, a combination of self and other motives shapes preferences for health, social services, emergency, and international causes. This complex interplay highlights that prosocial behavior is susceptible to a plurality of motives and cannot be solely understood through a binary distinction of altruism versus egoism. The study also contributes to the broader understanding of the psychology of charitable giving and has implications for fundraising design in a competitive market.

Quality of life, satisfaction with care, and the experiences of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities before and during COVID-19

BackgroundAdults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) experienced significant disruptions in their access to health care, support services, and essential daily activities such as work, leisure, and routine daily care during COVID-19. ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to describe overall experiences related to COVID-19 among adults with IDD, including the vaccination process, quality of life (QoL), and service satisfaction before and during the pandemic. MethodsA longitudinal statewide survey of adults with IDD receiving long-term care support using a combination of self- and care partner report was completed prior to (2017; n = 331) and during (2021; n = 206) the pandemic. ResultsQualitative results identified specific vaccine barriers, vaccine decision influencers, and general experiences during COVID-19 for adults with IDD. The importance of support staff, vaccine availability, disruption in daily activities, social context, and mental health implications were noted in responses to all three topics. Quantitative results showed lower QoL during COVID-19 (M = 2.99 vs. 3.14, p = .028); however, when reporter (self vs. care partner) and age were added to the model, differences between pre-vs. during-COVID were no longer significant. No significant differences in satisfaction of services were noted pre-vs. during-COVID-19. Ninety-six percent of respondents reported access to the vaccine, and 16 % experienced barriers getting the vaccine. QoL was associated with receiving the COVID-19 vaccine (r = 0.15, p = .036), level of agreement that the vaccine is safe (r = 0.17, p = .024), and level of agreement that getting the vaccine will help protect other vulnerable people in the community (r = .25, p = .001). Level of satisfaction with quality of services was also associated with level of agreement that the vaccine is safe (r = 0.15, p = .048). ConclusionsOverall, a better understanding of service continuation, support practices, and experiences related to COVID-19 will prepare us for future environmental and health crises by identifying areas for improvement, intervention, and policy change to meet the ongoing needs of adults with IDD.

Consequences of China’s special send-down movement on infectious disease control in rural areas: a natural experiment

BackgroundChina's send-down movement in the 1960s and 1970s, as a natural experiment, provides a unique opportunity to investigate the relationship between peers' dissemination of health literacy, community health workers, and infectious disease control in areas with weak health systems and inadequate human resources. To address the lack of studies on the health effects of the send-down movement, this study examined the associations between prenatal exposure to the send-down movement and infectious diseases in China. MethodsWe analyzed 188,253 adults born in 1956–1977 with rural hukou who participated in the Second National Sample Survey on Disability in 2006 across 734 counties of China. Difference-in-difference models were used to detect the effect of the send-down movement on infectious diseases. Infectious diseases were ascertained by using the combination of self- or family members’ reports and on-site medical diagnosis of disabilities attributed to infectious disease by experienced specialists. The density of the relocated urban sent-down youth or “sent-down youths” (SDYs) in each county defined the intensity variable of the send-down movement. ResultsIndividuals in SDY-receiving areas with increased intensity of prenatal exposure to the send-down movement had a decreased probability of infectious diseases (β = −0.0362, 95% CI: 0.0591, −0.0133) after controlling for a set of regional and cohort characteristics. This association was stronger in counties with more prevalent infectious diseases prior to the send-down movement (β = −0.0466, 95% CI: 0.0884, −0.0048) than in those with less prevalence (β = −0.0265, 95% CI: 0.0429, −0.010). No substantial differences were found across sex-specific groups or by strictness of send-down movement implementation. On average, prenatal exposure to the send-down movement corresponded to a decrease in the probability of infectious diseases in rural areas by 19.70%. ConclusionsFor areas with weak health systems, strengthening community health workers and promoting health literacy may be two key points to address the burden of infectious diseases. Increasing education and primary health care through peer-to-peer dissemination may contribute to the reduction of infectious disease prevalence.

MANAGING CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS IN A MULTICULTURAL SOCIETY: PERSPECTIVE OF FILIPINO CANADIAN ENGINEERS

This research study was intended to examine the effect of national culture and leadership styles of Filipino- Canadian Engineers based on Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. The purpose of this academic research is to find a leadership program that will bridge the gap of underrepresentation among the Filipino Canadian Engineers and Project Managers in Canada. The respondents of this research study are the internationally trained Filipino Engineers who are members of the Association of Filipino Canadian Engineers (AFCE). This researcher used a combination of self- made and standardized Survey Questionnaires published on Google Forms, as well as face to face interviews where permitted. The questionnaires were sent via email or social media platforms such as Messenger and LinkedIn. The data collected were then tallied, analyzed, interpreted and summarized using statistical treatment such as Mean, Pearson r correlation, Standard Deviation and Frequency. The study revealed that Filipinos has assimilated well to the Canadian Society in terms of cultural dimensions with the exemption of Collectivism. This research study also found out that there are leadership traits or skills that need to be tweaked in order for the Filipino Canadian Engineers to be a productive part of Engineering and Construction industry. This researcher identified workshops including Assertiveness training, Critical and creative thinking, Emotional Intelligence, Intercultural and interpersonal communication, and public speaking shall be introduced.

Exploring the combination of self and mutual teaching for tabular-data-related semi-supervised regression

Semi-supervised learning (SSL) has drawn much attention since it can alleviate the predicament in which only limited labels can be accessed, with the help of numerous unlabeled data. Many deep neural networks (NNs) based SSL methods have been proposed recently, which mostly focus on image classification tasks, while fewer efforts have been taken to tabular data related regression scenarios. In this paper, to handle the semi-supervised regression problem for tabular data with NNs based methods, we empirically observe the demerits of previous methods and present a novel framework, to explore the combination of self teaching and mutual teaching. For one thing, self teaching is employed to each base learner by using consistency regularization so that the model is driven to be more stable and also robust to local perturbations. For another, the knowledge of other base learners is extracted and filtered to perform mutual teaching to avoid the confirmation bias problem and boost the training of each base learner. Here, we employ an uncertainty-based strategy for the filtering of knowledge in mutual teaching. Extensive experiments are performed on multiple real-world datasets to demonstrate the effectiveness of previous methods and the proposed framework, and further analyses are conducted to understand the influence of each factor in the proposed framework.

Differential Predictive Effect of Self-Regulation Behavior and the Combination of Self- vs. External Regulation Behavior on Executive Dysfunctions and Emotion Regulation Difficulties, in University Students.

The aim of this research was to establish linear relations (association and prediction) and inferential relations between three constructs at different levels of psychological research – executive dysfunction (microanalysis), self-regulation (molecular level), and self- vs. external regulation (molar level), in the prediction of emotion regulation difficulties. We hypothesized that personal and contextual regulatory factors would be negatively related to levels of executive dysfunction and emotion regulation difficulties; by way of complement, non-regulatory and dysregulatory personal, and contextual factors would be positively related to these same difficulties. To establish relationships, we used a retrospective, ex post facto design, where 298 university students voluntarily participated by completing standardized self-reports. Linear and structural correlational, predictive analyses were performed, as well as inferential analyses. Results were consistent and validated the proposed hypotheses, for both association and prediction. The most important result refers to the discriminant value of the five-level combination heuristic for predicting Executive Function and External (contextual) Dys-Regulation. In conclusion: (1) both personal and contextual regulation factors must be analyzed in order to better understand the variation in executive functions and emotion regulation difficulties; (2) it is important to continue connecting the different levels of the constructs referring to self-regulation, given their complementary role in the behavioral analysis of regulation difficulties.

Navigating Contrapower Harassment in the Sport Classroom as Graduate Teaching Associates: A Collaborative Autoethnography

While teaching, many graduate teaching associates (GTAs) are exposed to contrapower harassment, as it is common in higher education. Contrapower harassment occurs when a person with more authority is harassed by a person with less authority. In the sport studies classroom, experiences of contrapower harassment are magnified for women, as they are underrepresented in this space. Man-dominated sport environments often see higher rates of harassment. Research has focused on women faculty experiences of harassment in the classroom yet neglected the experiences of women GTAs. This collaborative autoethnography focuses on the experiences of contrapower harassment for two women GTAs in a sport studies department. Collaborative autoethnography allowed the researchers to gain a deeper understanding of ourselves, in the context of the sport studies classroom, through a combination of self and collective analysis. Interwoven throughout our myriad experiences was the expression of uncertainty in the face of contrapower harassment. This highlighted the need for additional training opportunities for women GTAs to navigate contrapower harassment in their classrooms.

Short-Term Resilience of Soil Microbial Communities and Functions Following Severe Environmental Changes

Soil microorganisms are key drivers of soil biochemical processes, but the resilience of microbial communities and their metabolic activity after an extreme environmental change is still largely unknown. We studied structural (bacterial and fungal communities) and functional responses (soil respiration, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) content, hydrolase activities involved in the mineralization of organic C, N, P and S, and microbial community-level physiological profiles (CLPPs)) during the microbial recolonization of three heat-sterilized forest soils followed by cross- or self-reinoculation and incubation for 1, 7 and 30 days. Soil ATP content, biochemical activities and CLPP were annihilated by autoclaving, whereas most of the hydrolase activities were reduced to varying extents depending on the soil and enzyme activity considered. During the incubation period, the combination of self- and cross-reinoculation of different sterilized soils produced rapid dynamic changes in enzymatic activity as well as in microbial structure and catabolic activity. Physicochemical properties of the original soils exerted a major influence in shaping soil functional diversity, while reinoculation of sterilized soils promoted faster and greater changes in bacterial community structure than in fungal communities, varying with incubation period and soil type. Our results also confirmed the importance of microbial richness in determining soil resilience under severe disturbances. In particular, the new microbial communities detected in the treated soils revealed the occurrence of taxa which were not detected in the original soils. This result confirmed that rare microbial taxa rather than the dominant ones may be the major drivers of soil functionality and resilience.

The ethics of technology innovation: a double-edged sword?

We discuss the dilemma that while AI is considered as one of the most powerful engines that exist today to drive innovation, at the same time, however, rapid application of AI also has the potential to further increase inequalities and societal harm. This makes that we are being confronted with the question whether today’s amazing tech innovations may ultimately not bring limited benefits to the weaker members of society who need this kind of innovation the most. As such, do we need to slow down tech innovation to ensure that not more (and possibly new) unethical outcomes emerge over time? We note that the pursuit of tech innovation has been advocated primarily to optimize productivity, and, hence, economic growth. This pursuit represents, however, a narrow perspective on the good that AI could produce. Therefore, we argue that we need to adopt a less narrow perspective on what optimization means using tech innovation in ways that optimizes a diversity of human interests. By adopting such broader perspective, we propose an integrative approach where we start from the idea that we need to continue pushing tech innovation, but in combination with regulating innovation efforts and installing a stronger sense of moral awareness and responsibility among those in charge of the tech innovation journey. We conclude with outlining recommendations that can help promote this integrative approach, including the combination of self- and government regulation, promoting training efforts to establish more responsible leadership, and encouraging efforts to bring AI faster to the people.

Q[8]/SC[6]A-based framework constructed via OSIQ for metal ion capture

Since the outer surface interaction of Q[n]s (OSIQ, including self-, anion- and aromatic-induced OSIQs) was proposed in 2014, it has become the most important research area in our group to construct various Q[n]-based supramolecular frameworks via the OSIQ strategy. Herein, we report a novel supramolecular framework constructed using cucurbit[8]uril (Q[8]) and 4-sulfocalix[6]arene (SC[6]A). This Q[8]/SC[6]A-based supramolecular framework is a product via the perfect combination of self-, anion- and aromatic-induced OSIQs. This framework has the characteristics of easy preparation and high stability with the most important feature being the sequence selective capture of specific metal cations, such as common alkali- and alkaline earth metal ions, and renewability. Thus, this framework may be used in seawater desalination, potassium ion enrichment, radioactive cesium ion pollution source treatment, Gruinard's treatment or water softening and other applications.

Prevalence of Stroke, Coronary Artery Disease, Arrhythmias and Heart Failure: A Community-Based Study in Northern Cameroon

Data on the cardiovascular disease epidemiology in Northern Cameroon remain insufficient. This study aimed at assessing the prevalence of stroke, coronary artery disease (CAD), arrhythmias and heart failure among the Ngaoundere population. This was a community-based study conducted in Ngaoundere from March to June 2018. The study population consisted of adults over 20 years’ old who had been living in the city of Ngaoundere for at least one year and who had consented to participate in the study. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire. The questionnaire included socio-demographic (gender, age, occupation, education, marital status, cardiovascular risk factors, personal and family history of CVD), and physical examination. Stroke, CAD, arrhythmias and heart failure were established by a combination of self reporting and the judgment of a cardiologist coauthor according to a physical examination. In total, 948 subjects aged 20 to 89 were included in the study. Their mean age was 39.92±14.75 years. The prevalence of stroke, CAD, arrhythmias and heart failure were 0.74%, 3.06%, 3.6%, and 12.45% respectively in the study population. In conclusion, in this area, prevalence of stroke, arrhythmias and heart failure was high among adult population. However, further studies including instrumental methods of cardiovascular diagnosis are needed to determine trends of CVD’s prevalence in Ngaoundere locality.

Interface shear strength evaluation of self compacting geopolymer concrete using push-off test

Geopolymer is an eco-friendly material used as an alternative to Portland cement and it can be used in construction practices as a repair material to concrete/as a structural element in construction/ as a whole. This study was mainly intended to understand the efficiency of geopolymers in the structural system when special concretes are involved in construction. Shear bond strength was evaluated for the combination of self compacting geopolymer concrete (SCGC) and normal self compacting concrete (SCC). SCGC was developed under external exposure curing conditions enabling it to be used in cast-in-situ production. This was achieved by binary blending of mineral admixtures, use of activator solutions, and superplasticizer. Comparative study on two types of push-off tests namely (1) Conventional Push-off test (Type 1) and (2) Push-off test with normal load acting over the shear interface (Type 2) were conducted to evaluate the interface shear strength. Test results were compared with selected shear friction models available from literature and the effect of introducing self compacting geopolymer concrete in composite interfaces were analyzed.

Tumor Segmentation by a Self-Organizing-Map based Active Contour Model (SOMACM) from the Brain MRIs

Segmentation of tumors from the brain Magnetic Resonance Images (MRIs) is very important for the analysis and right treatment. Tumors treated at early stages improve the survival time. This paper proposes an advanced method named SOMACM which is a combination of Self -Organizing -Map (SOM) and Active Contour Model (ACM) for the efficient segmentation of brain MRIs to detect tumors. ACM is an energy-based segmentation method and treats the segmentation as an optimization issue. It can model complex shapes and handles topological changes in the object boundary. The customary ACMs rely upon the intensities of the pixels and are very vulnerable to parameter tuning hence it is very difficult to segment the images of distinct pixel intensities. ACMs will evolve from the object boundary for the images consisting of Intensity Inhomogeneity (IIH). Neural Networks (NNs) are exceptionally compelling in processing the images of inhomogeneities. Furthermore, image segmentation can be done by NNs without the use of an objective function. The proposed SOMACM method works by precisely incorporating the global information extracted from the weights of the trained SOM neurons which helps in modeling complex shapes and distinct intensity distributions. It can handle images with noise, intensity similarity and IIH. The proposed segmentation technique is not sensitive to parameter tuning. The outcomes of the proposed SOMACM demonstrate the improved accuracy in the segmentation results of different types of tumor images, in contrast with the individual SOM, ACM, Fuzzy-C- Means (FCM), Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Probabilistic Neural Networks (PNN) segmentation methods.

METODE PEMBELAJARAN KOMBINASI (SELF DAN PEER ASSESSMENT) EFEKTIF MENINGKATKAN KETERAMPILAN MAHASISWA DI LABORATORIUM KLINIK

Midwife profession must have good competence because it has an impact in improving the quality of health service. Survey of Midwifery Diploma III Institutions. Midwife competencies that match work requirements are only 15%. To improve the competence of midwives, the laboratory learning process must be carried out properly according to standards. The combination of self and peer assessment methods is learning to get feedback, encourage students to be more active, independent, responsible, practice evaluation skills and encourage deep learning to maximize the achievement of competencies. The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of a combination of self and peer assessmentlearning methods on D III Midwifery student competencies. This research is a quantitative study with a quasi-experimental pre-post test design. The study population was all students of D III Midwifery Semester III with a total of 75 people. Sampling uses simple random sampling technique which is divided into three groups for self assessment, peer assessment and a combination of self and peer assessmentmethods, each group totaling 25 people. The research instrument uses a checklist. The statistical test used is Kruskal_Wallis. the results showed that the combination of self and peer assessmentmethods showed more increases by 13.2% (p

Participation seven years after severe childhood traumatic brain injury

Purpose: Participation in home, school and community activities is considered as the ultimate aim of rehabilitation. The aims of this study were to examine participation seven years post-severe childhood traumatic brain injury and factors associated with participation.Materials and methods: Participants were enrolled in the Traumatisme Grave de l’Enfant (Severe Childhood Injury) cohort study following severe accidental childhood traumatic brain injury. Participation seven years post-injury, was examined using parent- and self-report forms of the Child and Adolescent Scale of Participation among 37 patients [62% males, mean age 15.4 years (SD = 4.4), mean length of coma 6.68 days (SD = 4.96)] and 33 matched controls.Results: Parent reports indicated significantly lower participation among patients compared to controls, but the self-reports did not. In the traumatic brain injury group, parent-reported participation was variable, with 22% of the patients clearly showing greater restrictions than controls. Participation restrictions were significantly associated with injury severity, poor functional outcome one-year post-injury, executive and behavioral difficulties and higher fatigue levels seven years post-injury, but not with pre-injury nor family factors.Conclusions: Several years after severe childhood traumatic brain injury, participation appears to depend more on injury-related factors than on environmental factors. In self-reports assessments of participation, it could be difficult for children and adolescents to distinguish capacity from performance.Implications for rehabilitationParticipation outcomes were highly variable in a sample of patients who sustained severe childhood traumatic brain injury.Participation should be assessed systematically following severe traumatic brain injury, both initially but also in the long-term, ideally using a combination of self- and proxy-report measures.Among patients with severe injuries, the influence of initial brain injury severity markers on participation seems much stronger than that of social/family environment factors.Children’s and adolescents’ self-reported participation assessed with the Child and Adolescent Scale of Participation may be difficult to interpret.

Bronchoscopic management of critical central airway obstruction by thyroid cancer: Combination airway stenting using tracheal and inverted-Y carinal self-expanding metallic stents.

Central airway obstruction (CAO) can result from various benign and malignant etiologies. Anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) is the most aggressive form of thyroid cancer. Rapid airway compromise is the main cause of death in ATC. We report a patient with ATC who presented with a large neck mass leading to CAO with long segment tracheal and right main bronchial compression and respiratory failure. Urgent Rigid Bronchoscopy was performed for airway stabilization and patient was managed with a combination airway stenting approach. A combination of self expanding, metallic, covered inverted Y and straight tracheal stents was used to stabilize the near complete airway structure. We herein highlight the role of therapeutic rigid bronchoscopy with airway stenting as an efficacious treatment modality for management of malignant CAO.

Complete assembly of Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) nanorods at substrate interfaces using a combination of self and directed organisation.

Here we report the two-stage assembly of semiconductor nanorods at substrates. The nanorods preassemble into 2D discs by self-organisation and these discs are deposited into conformal layers at substrates using electric field assembly. The intermediate self-assembly step can be eliminated by carrying out a judicious ligand exchange allowing selectivity for dimensional control of layer formation from nanorod building blocks in one two and three dimensions.