Conscious Decision Research Articles

A Review of SNAP Nutritional Incentive Programs

There are over 40 million Americans in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the Food Stamps Program. Despite this program attempting to eliminate food insecurity for people 130% below the poverty line, it does little to prevent nutrition related health disparities between SNAP participants and people who are more financially stable. Nearly every state has nutrition incentive programs attempting to address these nutritional health disparities that SNAP does not address. To synthesize a literature review of several of these programs, a search was conducted in PubMed, PubAg, and Google Scholar databases using terms such as “SNAP” and “nutritional incentive program,” along with date restrictions for 2013 or later. This search resulted in a total of 54 articles, however only 35 were used following screening. Included articles were screened first by abstract and then article content to determine relevancy. The literature suggests that programs address nutritional health disparities by providing financial interventions for SNAP participants to make nutritionally conscious decisions about the food they purchase and consume. There were three categories of interventions that were suggested by the literature: incentives, discounts, and restrictions. Regardless of the intervention, each of these categories of intervention were praised by SNAP participants. Participants were able to purchase and consume more fruits and vegetables, focus on nutrition, and financially support local farmers markets and supermarkets. This review discusses these different interventions to allow for new or existing programs to be developed to best address nutritional health disparities using scholarly evidence.

Cultivating a greener plate: understanding consumer choices in the plant-based meat revolution for sustainable diets

The implementation of sustainable food systems on a global scale is of utmost importance in order to effectively achieve sustainable diet goals on a world level. Plant-based meat alternatives offer potential replacements for meals derived from animals and serve as a means to transition toward more environmentally sustainable dietary choices. Therefore, in the quest for sustainable diets, comprehending consumer behavior and preferences within the context of the plant-based meat revolution is crucial. The current study is planned to examine the factors that influence the acceptance of plant-based meat alternatives among Chinese people. For this purpose, data collected from 610 individuals through an online survey was analyzed using the partial least square structural equation model. The findings reveal that consumer perceptions, particularly regarding taste, nutrition values, and texture, were found to have a significant impact on the acceptance of plant-based meat alternatives. Effective promotional strategies, availability, and accessibility also play a vital role in influencing consumer preferences for plant-based meat alternatives. The outcomes regarding the significance of health perception and environmental concern in transforming consumer preferences for plant-based meat alternatives are also highlighted. Consumers prioritize plant-based meat alternatives due to their perceived health benefits and favorable environmental impact. Moreover, consumer satisfaction, rooted in meeting or exceeding expectations, signifies the mediating role in the relationship between consumer perceptions and the acceptance of plant-based meat alternatives, which boosts the plant-based meat alternatives’ acceptance. Furthermore, the findings underline the mediating role of environmental attitude in the relationship between environmental concerns and plant-based meat alternatives’ acceptance, emphasizing the importance of sustainable dietary choices. In general, these findings provide valuable insights into the promotion of sustainable dietary choices, the alignment of consumer behavior with environmentally conscious decisions, and transforming the food systems in light of changing consumer behavior and ecological concerns.

Machine Learning Enabled Inventory Control for Deteriorating Items with Carbon Emission and Trade Credit under Learning and Forgetting

This research introduces a novel approach to inventory control, leveraging machine learning techniques to optimize inventory decisions for deteriorating items while accounting for carbon emissions and trade credit policies. In contemporary supply chain management, sustainability considerations have become increasingly vital. The carbon footprint associated with inventory management practices necessitates innovative solutions to minimize environmental impact. Moreover, trade credit offers financial flexibility but requires careful management to maintain profitability. To address these complex challenges, our proposed framework integrates machine learning algorithms into inventory control to enhance decision-making precision. The model incorporates dynamic learning and forgetting effects, allowing the system to adapt to changing demand patterns over time. This adaptability is particularly critical when dealing with deteriorating items that exhibit non-constant demand rates. Carbon emissions are assessed throughout the supply chain, and environmentally conscious decisions are made to minimize the carbon footprint. Additionally, trade credit terms are optimized to strike a balance between financial constraints and inventory performance. Our approach demonstrates superior performance in terms of minimizing costs, reducing carbon emissions, and enhancing supply chain resilience compared to traditional inventory management methods. Real-world case studies and simulations validate the effectiveness of our machine learning-enabled inventory control system, showcasing its practical applicability. This research contributes to the advancement of sustainable supply chain management by providing a comprehensive framework that combines AI-driven inventory control, carbon emission reduction, and trade credit optimization, ultimately fostering environmentally responsible and financially viable inventory decisions.

Efficacy and Hurdles of Carbon Footprint Labels in Shaping Consumer Choices

The purpose of this study is to look into the impact of carbon footprint labels on consumer behavior and to examine the benefits and challenges associated with their adoption. The goal of the study is to shed light on the obstacles that prevent consumers from incorporating carbon footprint labels into their decision-making processes and how well they work to encourage eco-friendly behavior. Both primary and secondary data are used in the study, which has a descriptive research design. Primary data is obtained through the use of a structured questionnaire, and secondary data is obtained from a variety of sources, such as websites, journals, and research papers. The results are interpreted using statistical techniques like weighted mean, frequency analysis, and Henry Garrett analysis. With the focus of the world on environmental sustainability, this study aims to address the barriers that prevent carbon footprint labels from being successfully incorporated into consumer choices. The legitimacy of such labels is weakened by a number of issues, including the absence of standardized measurement methodologies, consumer skepticism, and the possibility of greenwashing. A varied consumer landscape with variable product usage durations and influential factors is revealed by the data analysis. Customers are motivated to make environmentally conscious decisions by media coverage, corporate responsibility, and health concerns. Although a significant percentage appreciates carbon footprint labels as a means of promoting sustainable decisions, opinions and understanding regarding environmental friendliness vary widely. The analysis prioritizes factors associated with the advantages of carbon footprint labeling, suggesting that businesses who wear these labels have an edge over competitors and are encouraged to improve supply chain efficiency. In order to promote sustainability, the study highlights the importance of consumer awareness, company CSR profiles, and open information sharing.

Small State Diplomacy in Action: The Real Origins of TPP

The TPP Agreement – now CPTPP (Comprehensive and Progressive Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement) – is, by any measure, a central part of the emerging global trade policy framework. To the author's surprise, it survived the decision of the United States to withdraw after USTR Mike Froman had signed the Agreement in Auckland 2015 on behalf of the US. Today, it incorporates 12 economies including leading G20 economies such as Japan, Mexico, Canada, Australia, and the UK, its most recent entrant. Six other economies, including most importantly, China, the world's second largest economy, are now applying for membership. What began between Singapore and New Zealand – a conscious strategic decision on their part to try to incentivize precisely this process of Asia-Pacific regional integration in 1999 – is now clearly a major part of the global geopolitical chessboard.

Securing access to Services of General Interest in remote regions – ethical perspectives and practical implications for spatial planning

Services of General Interest (SGI) are basic services that society and economy vitally need to function and develop. Securing access to these services is a key concern in many European spatial planning systems. In remote regions across Europe, SGI provision is facing challenges due to demographic and economic transformation processes. Opposing political proposals on how to address these challenges are often rooted in opposing ethical convictions. This article sheds light on the perspectives that different ethical concepts offer on SGI provision and explores the practical repercussions they entail. It is shown that proponents of libertarianism will advocate for allowing people to move to or stay in remote regions without adequate access to SGI as long as this is their voluntary and conscious decision, whereas proponents of egalitarianism will consider it a matter of justice to ensure universal access to SGI in remote regions even if this presupposes major societal efforts. Proponents of utilitarianism, it is shown, will consider it reasonable to expand SGI in densely populated regions, where provision is cost-effective and many people benefit from it, and to reduce it in remote regions, where costs of provision are high and users are few. These positions are illustrated using the examples of school education and local public transport. The article puts forward the view that while a reflection of the different ethical positions cannot resolve the challenges that SGI provision in remote regions is facing, it is often possible to find solutions for SGI provision that reconcile the seemingly contradictory demands resulting from the different positions. The reflection of the different positions thus contributes to reasoned, informed decision-making on SGI provision in spatial planning and beyond.

A CM-BWM Approach to Determinants of Open Innovation in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

Open innovation has gradually gained greater importance over time as commitment to a culture of constant innovation has become increasingly indispensable for organizations' long-term survival. This trend has made understanding the factors that affect innovation capacity and success imperative. Given the wide range of determinants already identified, researchers seeking to analyze these factors face difficult, extremely complex challenges in terms of determining their effects on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The existing literature mentions limitations arising from how criteria have been selected for evaluation systems and how these determinants' relative weights have been defined. This article develops an analysis system that combines cognitive mapping—based on the jointly understanding, reflecting, and negotiating strategy making approach—and the best-worst method. The two main aims are to identify the most significant criteria for evaluations of SME propensity to engage in open innovation and to calculate these factors' relative weights. This article focuses on promoting realistic, comprehensive analyses that foster clearer and more conscious decision making based on a holistic view of open innovation assessment.

Developing a constraint model for using artificial intelligence on existing, limited hardware in manufacturing machines

In the rapidly evolving field of Artificial Intelligence (AI), its application in industrial settings, particularly for anomaly detection in time series data, poses unique challenges. Current methods often lack a comprehensive understanding of the trade-offs involved in achieving optimal model performance, data preparation effort, and prediction quality. To bridge this gap, this paper presents an adaptive approach to address these challenges, focusing on making conscious decisions about mentioned trade-offs. Inspired by the principles of the Iron Triangle from product engineering, our methodology introduces a novel ”AI triangle” with dimensions of Speed, Effort, and Quality. We applied this methodology to a real-world case study involving anomaly detection in a constrained hardware environment in the context of a forming production process. The results highlight the effectiveness of our approach in achieving a practical balance between speed, effort, and quality constraints for implementing AI in an industrial setting. This paper provides valuable insights into the considerations and trade-offs necessary for the successful deployment of AI in manufacturing and other similar industrial applications.

MORAL AND ETHICAL COMPONENT OF SCIENCE IN TIMES OF WAR

MORAL AND ETHICAL COMPONENT OF SCIENCE IN TIMES OF WAR

CHOICE TO PROVIDE CARE AND KNOWLEDGE OF DEMENTIA SYMPTOMS: IMPACT ON CAREGIVERS’ EXPERIENCES

Abstract As the population ages, understanding the needs of people with dementia and their caregivers becomes increasingly crucial. Caregivers have various experiences related to the rewards and challenges of choosing to provide care. This project investigates how caregivers’ choice to provide care for someone with dementia and their knowledge of dementia symptoms influence their caregiving experiences. The study employed a secondary data analysis from the National Alliance for Caregiving and the American Association of Retired Persons. Caregiving experiences were gauged using a 5-point Likert scale ranging from ’completely negative’ to ’completely positive’. Statistical analyses were conducted using descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and ordinal logistic regression adjusting for covariates such as dementia stage, caregiver relationship, mental health, and caregiving attitude. Relative risks and 95% confidence intervals were estimated for interpretation using Stata/SE 18.0 with an a-priori significance level of p< 0.05. The study involves 927 caregivers, predominantly women (66.13%) aged 50 – 74. Caregivers who chose to provide care and recognized dementia symptoms were significantly more likely to report positive experiences (ARR= 1.38, p=< 0.001; ARR= 2.27, p=0.03) respectively. Caregivers who felt fulfilled or optimistic had positive experiences (ARR= 1.92, p< 0.001; ARR= 2.21, p< 0.001). Contrastingly, caregivers dealing with emotional stress or caring for relatives with moderate dementia were more likely to have a negative experience (ARR= 2.80, p< 0.001; ARR= 1.39, p=0.006). These findings highlight the importance of developing tailored nursing interventions to support caregivers’ conscious decision to provide care and increase caregivers’ knowledge, potentially enhancing the quality of life for caregivers.

Влияние тренинга профессионального самоопределения на ценностно-мотивационную направленность подростков

A relevant problem of pedagogical psychology is to provide effective career counseling services that would aid students to make a conscious career decision. Psychological characteristics of optants (high school students who choose a profession) in some sense imbricate with such a personal quality as subjectivity, which is manifested in adolescents’ values and motivation. One of the ways to help students choose a profession can be career guidance courses and trainings aimed at aiding students to make a conscious career decision. The goal of the research is to justify the use of such a training in order to ease the difficulties for adolescents to choose a profession and develop values and increase motivation, and as a consequence, to develop subjectivity. The hypothesis is as follows: career counseling eases the difficulties for adolescents to choose a profession and contributes to the development of values and boosts motivation. Study participants: 9th grade students (N = 54) of the Samara secondary school, who were divided into two groups: experimental and control. The participants of the experimental group (n = 25; M = 14.8; SD = 0.41; 40% of women) had a career counseling session once a week for 15 weeks. The control group (n = 29; M = 14.9; SD = 0.36; 52% of women) studied according to a conventional curriculum. Methods (tools): The diagnosis was performed with a time interval of 19 weeks. A projective technique for assessing the phases of the subjectivity formation in students (E. S. Volkova, A. V. Kaptsov) was used to assess the real, possible and ideal phases of the subjectivity formation and their changes after the training. A questionnaire on the difficulties of making a decision about choosing a profession (CDDQ, I. Gati, M. Kraus and S. Osipov, adapted by E. S. Volkova) was used to determine the problems of the ninth-graders when choosing a profession. Results: The research has demonstrated the positive effect of the training on easing the difficulties to choose a profession, as well as on the development of the motivational component of subjectivity; the training has increased the value of the educational activity expressed by the growth of the indicator of the ideal phase of the “master” stage of subjectivity in the experimental group. In ideal and possible phases of subjectivity formation, the experimental group has demonstrated the phenomenon of self-organization in terms of the formation of attractors, as a result of which the phases of subjectivity formation take place. The main conclusions. Career counseling eases the difficulties for high school students to choose a profession; it promotes the development of values and boosts motivation, and as a result, it helps to form the subjectivity in students; additionally, it promotes the phenomenon of self-organization in an ideal phase of subjectivity formation, which may potentially affect the real phase of subjectivity formation in the future.

Do Turkish Political Parties Pledge In Line With Their Party Family Ideologies? A Quantitative Analysis of Turkish Political Parties’ Manifesto Documents

In the Western political science literature, modern political parties are grouped into party families, i.e., social democrat, socialist, communist, Christian democrat, liberal, radical, conservative, farmer-peasant, right-wing extremist, regional-ethnic parties and environmental movements. Categorizing a large number of political parties into a small number of party families is important not only for scientific reasons but also for practical ones. A correct categorization would help voters to better evaluate political parties and make more conscious voting decisions. Nevertheless, despite its central importance, the party family is one of the least empirically researched topics in the political science literature. More specifically, the literature on party family particularly lacks sufficient empirical investigations into the link between parties’ issue positions and their family locations. Moreover, to my knowledge, no previous study has investigated to what extent the Western party family phenomenon able to group political parties in a non-Western country. In order to fill this gap, this study aims to answer the following research question: Do Turkish political parties’ issue positions, as revealed in their manifesto documents, align with their expected party family locations? Answering this research question I hypothesize that Turkish political parties’ issue positions do not correspond to their expected party family locations. Results of the empirical analysis of the Manifesto Project data largely supported this hypothesis and one can now safely argue that Turkish political parties do not pledge in line with values suggested by the Western party family categorization.

Evaluation of Climate-Aware Metrics Tools for Radiology Informatics and Artificial Intelligence: Toward a Potential Radiology Ecolabel

Radiology is a major contributor to health care's impact on climate change, in part due to its reliance on energy-intensive equipment as well as its growing technological reliance. Delivering modern patient care requires a robust informatics team to move images from the imaging equipment to the workstations and the health care system. Radiology informatics is the field that manages medical imaging IT. This involves the acquisition, storage, retrieval, and use of imaging information in health care to improve access and quality, which includes PACS, cloud services, and artificial intelligence. However, the electricity consumption of computing and the life cycle of various computer components expands the carbon footprint of health care. The authors provide a general framework to understand the environmental impact of clinical radiology informatics, which includes using the international Greenhouse Gas Protocol to draft a definition of scopes of emissions pertinent to radiology informatics, as well as exploring existing tools to measure and account for these emissions. A novel standard ecolabel for radiology informatics tools, such as the Energy Star label for consumer devices or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification for buildings, should be developed to promote awareness and guide radiologists and radiology informatics leaders in making environmentally conscious decisions for their clinical practice. At this critical climate juncture, the radiology community has a unique and pressing obligation to consider our shared environmental responsibility in innovating clinical technology for patient care.

Reviewing Calvin’s eradication strategy to poverty biblically from a Missio Dei perspective

Most of the marginalised and underprivileged people across the globe live in the vicious cycle of poverty. Poverty is a thorny issue. The World Justice Project (WJP) estimated that two thirds of the world’s population are not only confronted by multiple injustices which include the civil, administrative, or criminal justices, but they are also living in a vicious cycle of being marginalised and underprivileged across the planet. The poverty-stricken victims are left hopeless and helpless due to unfair socio-economic and justice systems. Attempts are coming from different fronts on how to eradicate poverty. The researcher realised the two extreme ends of these attempts, namely the rich-oriented capitalist and the poor-oriented socialist extremist. Their debates around poverty tend more to a dichotomy contestation. The question is how can the best of their contestation be utilised for poverty eradication locally and globally. The problem that this article is addressing, is the underlying misconceptions which comes to the fore in the contestation between the rich and the poor in their attempts to eradicate poverty. When such misconceptions are left unchecked, they hinder any attempts or efforts from both sides to obey God’s missional call to eradicate poverty.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article adds the voice (value) regarding addressing the rich-oriented capitalist and the poor-oriented socialist extremist in their attempts to eradicate poverty, conscientizing them that, as they have the same make-up and Maker despite their positions and conditions in life and therefore, based on the ecodomy framework for equitable justice, they should make a conscious decision to eradicate poverty as their missional call before their Maker.

Crafts in the Time of Coronavirus

Crafts in the Time of Coronavirus

Biotechnological Invention and IPR: Patent Waiver for Covid-19 Vaccine

For as long as one can remember, Intellectual Property Rights or rather the protection conferred by virtue of Intellectual Property Rights has enabled innovators to come up with exciting new inventions and discoveries which have had a significant impact on the human society in order for it to make strides in innovation and development. For instance, the invention of the Light Bulb by Thomas Edison and securing its patent helped him manufacture the light bulb and market it easily. As a consequence of which, the light bulb can now be found in each house and the patent protection ensures the right of the inventor over its discovery and prevents others from copying it. However, the other viewpoint is that had it not been for patent protection, the light bulb would have been more common in the streets of New York when it was invented and owing to the high market competition, it would even lead to being sold at cheaper prices. From this vantage point, the conscious decision of not patenting the Polio vaccine was taken, for it was a biotechnological invention that eventually helped in the eradication of Polio from the world. Had the makers of the Polio vaccine decided to patent the invention, it would not have been as accessible as it is. This paper attempts to focus on theories of social justice and ascertain the philosophy behind the Intellectual Property Rights in terms of biotechnological inventions tracing their journey from where it started to how far along it is in the process of making human lives simpler in the present times. Furthermore, the paper attempts to bring forth the repercussions of patenting the Covid-19 Vaccine and the implications, both social and legal, of the “Covid-19 vaccine waiver” trend which seems like a promising avenue amidst these times when a global pandemic is wreaking havoc on the entire world.

More Than Organic: Consumer Expectations of Sustainability and Quality. Evidences from a Qualitative Study in Italy

ABSTRACT Research shows that the search for healthier foods and concern for sustainability are driving the purchase of organic products. However, consumer expectations for quality attributes and sustainability often go beyond the parameters for organic certification, even after the latest revision (EU Regulation 2018/848). This article aims to explore Italian consumers’ expectations for attributes beyond the current organic certification and to highlight the importance of introducing an additional certification for this added value. Nine focus groups (59 participants) were conducted and analyzed with the Template Analysis approach using Atlas.ti 6.0. Participants expressed expectations beyond current organic certification: i) “for the consumer” (excellent product quality); ii) “for the people and the planet” (ethical aspects of production and distribution); iii) information about organic labels. The development of an “organic plus sustainability certification” seems important: it could allow consumers to make more conscious and ethical purchasing decisions in mature but still changing organic markets such as Italy.

Cómo lograr el éxito con una reedición: 1964, el Ferdydurke de Sudamericana y Ernesto Sabato

In 1964, Sudamericana Publishing House printed in Buenos Aires the second edition of the Spanish version of the novel Ferdydurke (1937) by Polish writer Witold Gombrowicz. Apparently, it was identical to the first publication in Spanish (by Argos Publishing House, Buenos Aires, 1947); however, the text had been extensively revised according to Ernesto Sabato’s indications. Furthermore, a new prologue written by Sabato substituted the previous initials materials. This article documents and explains how this revision, the new prologue, the decision to publish in Sudamericana, and the publicity given to the book were conscious decisions either by Gombrowicz or by Sabato in search of editorial success. Their final goal was to place the novel and its author in a visible and privileged place in the Argentine and Spanish-speaking literary system. The study also focuses on the textual differences between Ferdydurke’s first and second Spanish editions: it tries to explain how and why specific changes were made and the implications of these changes.

Artificial consciousness: the missing ingredient for ethical AI?

Can we conceive machines that can formulate autonomous intentions and make conscious decisions? If so, how would this ability affect their ethical behavior? Some case studies help us understand how advances in understanding artificial consciousness can contribute to creating ethical AI systems.

When they are more than just employees: Environmentally conscious decision‐making in employee‐owned organizations

AbstractPromoting environmental sustainability may hold relevance for employee‐owned organizations since their employees prioritize the long‐term well‐being of the business as they influence and are influenced by the legacy of the organization. The integration of environmental consciousness into decision‐making has thus the potential to help align environmental and organizational sustainability objectives in these organizations. However, the literature lacks an explanation of how employee‐owned organizations make environmentally conscious decisions. In this study, we conducted interviews with top executives of employee‐owned organizations to explore how environmentally conscious decision‐making unfolds in the experiences of these managers. We find that transparency and delegation of authority serve as two key mechanisms that underlie environmentally conscious decision‐making in employee‐owned organizations. We also find three paths inspired by these mechanisms that employee‐owned organizations follow in making environmentally conscious decisions. We discuss the implications of these mechanisms and paths for research and practice.