Core Concepts Research Articles

Including the Sign Language Community in Language Research, Learning and Teaching: Video Reference Grammar of Slovenian Sign Language (SZJ)

Background: Deaf users of Slovenian Sign Language vary in competence between L1, delayed L1 and L2. They follow the grammatical patterns of their language but are unaware of them because the language is neither linguistically documented nor systematically used in the classroom. As a result, the available learning and teaching materials are inadequately prepared in many aspects.
 Purpose: The aim of this research was to create a reference grammar of SZJ by (i) using SZJ for metalinguistic descriptions and (ii) training Deaf signers as researchers and teachers. We observed their performance in order to answer the research question of whether it is possible to involve Deaf signers in the process of creating and disseminating a sign language reference grammar.
 Method: Training a group of deaf L1 signers to (i) start systematic research of their language within a selected formal approach, (ii) create didactic video materials for learning/teaching Slovenian Sign Language as L1 and L2, and (iii) use these materials in language courses for L1 and L2 deaf signers.
 Results: Eleven deaf L1 signers were trained as researchers in a 40-hour course. Five deaf and two hearing L1 signers were trained as language teachers in another 40-hour course and then presented the core concepts of Slovenian Sign Language grammar to 302 members of 12 local Slovenian deaf clubs in 24 editions of a 40-hour language course. For the presentations, they used didactic video materials (duration 5:46 hours). These materials were produced by the five L1 signers and later uploaded to two freely accessible online video platforms.
 Conclusion: The approach proved fruitful: signers were actively involved in the creation and dissemination of the first Slovenian Sign Language reference grammar. The available analytics show that the materials are continuously viewed by both deaf and hearing users.

Physical and Psychological Well Being among Full Time Research Scholars

In today's globalized world, the role of research in an academic institution is critical for its long-term viability and development, and knowledge-driven growth based on innovation is essential. The core concept of research is the pursuit of knowledge. Research scholars play a crucial role in advancing knowledge and contributing to the academic community. However, the demanding nature of their work, including long hours of study, research, and academic responsibilities, can potentially impact their physical and psychological well-being. In Bharathiar University, at present 106 affiliated colleges including 93 Arts and science colleges, 1 Air Force administrative college, 12 Institutions of Information science and management and 30 Research Institutions. The researcher selected 10 Arts and science colleges for this study. The main aim of the study is to know about the perspectives of the research scholars from different disciplines or academic institutions regarding their physical and psychological well-being. Descriptive research design was used in the present study. 40 PhD research scholars were selected from the different disciplines of Arts and Sciences colleges in Coimbatore district. The tool which was developed for the collection of data was a self-structure questionnaire and has been constructed by the researcher based on the key objectives of the study.

Kama Sutra, a Pandora’s Box of Evils

This paper shows that Kama Sutra, the oldest living literature on sex, love an relationship has a flawed core concept that is neither holistic, moral or uplifting nor balanced and harmonious to human nature. It has some positives in speaking about the truth but it is patchy as most of the verses speak about satisfying a human desire with “just do it” philosophy rather than control your lust to seek pleasure but not at the cost of sacrificing your values. When this Pandora’s box is open it will do more harm than good to society as the fundamental foundation is weak and verses speak from ignorance of real knowledge.

The Marketing Strategy behind the Continuous High Performance of Nanjing Deji Plaza

With the rapid development of the times, people's quality of life has generally taken a qualitative leap, and their requirements for quality of life are also getting higher and higher. Luxury goods have become a pursuit for quality of life for many people, and many first-line luxury brands will choose shopping malls with superior geographical locations to enter offline flagship stores to maximize their total revenue. How those stores attract high-end brands and what marketing methods they use to maximize their total income is a question worth studying. The report takes Nanjing Deji Plaza as an example. It uses case analysis to analyze the marketing methods of the mall from the internal and external environment, core concept and positioning of the mall, store product strategy and introduction selection, and consumer psychology, and gives some relevant marketing suggestions. Shopping malls attract consumers by many factors, in terms of the environment, which can continue to maintain a height consistent with the positioning of the shopping mall. In the event of damage to the facilities, it should be dealt with promptly to avoid affecting consumer experience. As an independent individual, the concept positioning of the shopping mall should keep up with the pace of the times, always grasp the current needs of consumers, and advocate life concepts to make corresponding adjustments to various details of the shopping mall.

Immersions and Dives

The present volume Immersions and Dives: From the Environment to Virtual Reality of the journal AN-ICON: Studies in Environmental Images is divided into two issues, each one dedicated to a specific thematic analysis, originated by the same conceptual core. The volume reflects on the concept of immersivity, which has become increasingly prominent in many different fields, including contemporary art. The constant reference to immersive experience is redefining the boundaries of artistic practice and fruition, highlighting the complex relationships between art, environments, and human perception.

Constructing the 'Self' in Islamic Psychology: Challenges and Opportunities

The Self is one of the core concepts in Islamic psychology. However, the concept of the Self found in recent Islamic psychology discourse is still quite unclear since its understanding of the soul remains debatable. A deeper study on the concept of the Self should be carried out to refine the essence of the Self in Islamic psychology and straighten the problematic and reductive understanding on these issues. This paper will give brief review on the studies of the Self in Islamic psychology, then provide some views about the challenges and opportunities to develop this concept. Further discussions about this issue are also discussed in this article.

Immersions and Dives

The present volume Immersions and Dives: From the Environment to Virtual Reality of the journal AN-ICON: Studies in Environmental Images is divided into two issues, each one dedicated to a specific thematic analysis, originated by the same conceptual core. The volume reflects on the concept of immersivity, which has become increasingly prominent in many different fields, including contemporary art. The constant reference to immersive experience is redefining the boundaries of artistic practice and fruition, highlighting the complex relationships between art, environments, and human perception.

Integrated care models for older adults with depression and physical multimorbidity: a scoping review

Objective: Multimorbidity, the coexistence of multiple chronic conditions occurring in one person at the same time, where one is not a known complication of the other, is a growing challenge in the care for older people with mental illness. In order to address both physical and mental illnesses in older people, integrated care management is required. The purpose of this scoping review was to provide a comprehensive overview of integrated care models for older adults (60+) with depression and physical multimorbidity. We identified the core components of the examined integrated care models and mapped the reported outcomes and implementation strategies.
 Methods and analysis: We followed the methodology of Arksey and O’Malley’s. MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL and Cochrane Library were searched independently by two reviewers from inception to May 2022. Studies composed in English or Dutch concerning integrated care interventions for older adults with major depression and physical multimorbidity were included. We used the micro-level SELFIE framework to map the core concepts of integrated care models. Outcomes were divided in person-centered and service themes.
 Results: After title and abstract and subsequent full-text screening, 38 studies were included describing 13 different care models. The majority (n=21) were randomized controlled trials, followed by observational studies (n=6), study protocols (n=5), qualitative studies (n=4), and feasibility studies (n=2). Studies were conducted in the North-America (n=28), Europe (n=6), Asia (n=3) and Australia (n=1). In all care models, a multidisciplinary team with a care coordinator was involved. Also treatment interaction, continuity of care, individualized care planning, tailored holistic assessment and self-management support were elements of all care models. Informal care giver involvement and shared decision making were less often described as core elements. Discrepancy was detected in the information systems and technology that different care models used. Only seven care models reported on financial aspects of the intervention, e.g. the reimbursement on participation or the provision of financial incentives.
 A total of 32 different outcomes were evaluated in the primary studies. Patient outcomes, e.g. functional status and depression symptoms, are well described by all care models. In contrast, little attention is paid to service outcomes such as emergency department visits or therapy attendance. Only two studies briefly described the implementation strategies used in the study.
 Conclusion: The core elements that comprise integrated care models are diverse. Future studies should focus more on implementation aspects of the intervention and describe financial parts, e.g. the cost of the intervention for the healthcare user, more transparently.
 Key words: Collaborative care, integrated care, psychosomatic medicine, geriatric psychiatry, care models

The Relevance of The Human Development Index from An Islamic Perspective to Macroeconomics and Zakat: A Measure of The Development of The World's Muslim Community

This paper analyses the core concepts and indicators of the Human Development Index (HDI) from a religious and theological perspective, particularly from an Islamic perspective (termed I-HDI). By using the theory of maqāṣid al-sharīʿah (the goals or objectives of Islamic law), this study looks at how I-HDI, macroeconomics, and zakat (alms) are interrelated. The study then tests the HDI and IHDI calculations and analyses for differences and similarities between them. This research uses the dynamic panel regression method with generalised method of moments (GMM) analysis in two steps. The author found that HDI and I-HDI provide very different results. The results of the HDI calculation are in the middle to lower ranking on the scale, while I-HDI sits on the upper middle scale. There is a large disparity between the results of HDI and I-HDI calculations. Hypothesis testing shows a positive macroeconomic relationship and influence on I-HDI, while the zakat variable is detrimental to I-HDI. This condition occurs because the strategy and management of zakat by the government is not optimal.

How a Team Effectiveness Approach to Health Systems Science Can Illuminate Undergraduate Medical Education Outcomes.

Health care delivery requires physicians to operate in teams to successfully navigate complexity in caring for patients and communities. The importance of training physicians early in core concepts of working in teams (i.e., "teaming") has long been established. Over the past decade, however, little evidence of team effectiveness training for medical students has been available. The recent introduction of health systems science as a third pillar of medical education provides an opportunity to teach and prepare students to work in teams and achieve related core competencies across the medical education continuum and health care delivery settings. Although educators and health care system leaders have emphasized the teaching and learning of team-based care, conceptual models and evidence that inform effective teaming within all aspects of undergraduate medical education (including classroom, clinical, and community settings) are needed to advance the science regarding learning and working in teams. Anchoring teaming through the core foundational theory of team effectiveness and its operational components could catalyze the empirical study of medical student teams, uncover modifiable factors that lead to the evidence for improved student learning, and improve the link among competency-based assessments between undergraduate medical education to graduate medical education. In this article, authors articulate several implications for medical schools through 5 conceptual areas: admissions, the design and teaching of team effectiveness in health systems science curricula, the related competency-based assessments and course and program evaluations. The authors then discuss the relevance of the measurable components and intended outcomes to team effectiveness in undergraduate medical education as critical to successfully prepare students for teaming in clerkships and eventually residency and clinical practice.

"Will the welfare state survive the future? - How people legitimize the welfare state."

Background: Legitimacy of the welfare state is a requirement for efficient functioning. In the current political climate of Norway creating new co-governance models under the umbrella of New Public Governance (NPG). NPG draws resources from the public, the private as well as the volunteer sector. In the European welfare states pressure is building due to demographic ageing, globalization and disturbances in the social order which affect the social contract between citizen and state. This article aims to explore how citizens legitimize the Norwegian welfare state drawing on perspective of institutional theory. Why do or don’t the participants support the current form of the welfare state?
 The interviews were analysed focusing on the assumptions and reasons on which the participants based their view of the welfare state. Although the method has been used on exploring the epistemic dimension of discretion, it allows for identification of the cognitive aspects of decision making, hence the ability to identify core assumptions and beliefs. The findings from the interview are analysed using Schuman’s analytical categories of pragmatic, moral and cognitive legitimacy create the framework for analysing the argumentation which the participants use to legitimize their current view of the Norwegian welfare state, and where it is heading. Contrary to most institutional research this paper does not attempt to see the big picture, but rather explore legitimacy through the informant’s perception of the welfare state.
 Methods: This is a qualitative study. We conducted individual interviews with one woman and one man in each 10-year, thus representing ages from 20 to 80. We also interviewed two senior experts at research centres and two politicians. These interviews were thematically analysed and coded in NVivo.
 In order to analyse the informant’s arguments further this paper utilizes Anders Molander’s interpretation and use of Toulmin which sees discretion as a process in which a person legitimizes their own argument statements through expressing core concepts, values and understandings.
 Results and Lessons learned: This is an ongoing study and the results will be presented and discussed at the conference. The preliminary analysis shows that moral legitimacy tends to outweigh pragmatic legitimacy. This implies that legitimacy is a key concept in achieving integrated services. This may indicate that cooperative models such as NPG in combination with people’s perspective of “what is the right thing to do” is key to reaching ideals promised in tailoring of services from people’s perspective.
 
 
 Limitations and suggestions for future research: Legitimacy as a concept on the micro level may be a key element in understanding how to integrate services and increase quality of services from people’s perspective. Moral legitimacy tends to create support despite to achieving peoples wishes. To a certain extent, the upcoming results will be of relevance for a better understanding of the complexity of organising and supporting welfare services. 
 Keywords: Welfare state, legitimacy, NPG, Co-governance, integration, 

Investigating the fundamental levels of a signature pedagogy in nursing education: A scoping review

BackgroundA signature pedagogy is a unique approach that provides a blueprint for curricular decision-making, as it reflects how we teach (surface structures), why we teach (deep structures), and what we believe are vital concepts or values all learners should embody (implicit structures). ObjectiveTo investigate what is known from the existing literature about a signature pedagogy to support undergraduate nursing education. DesignThis scoping review adopted Arksey and O’Malley's framework to guide the analysis of data. Two electronic databases were used to explore studies on educational strategies, content, and values published in Arabic, English, Filipino, French, Portuguese, and Spanish between 1972 and 2022. ResultsA total of 258 articles were included in this review. The analysis revealed that the majority of articles were at the surface (n = 189), followed by the deep (n = 123), with the least number examining the implicit level (n = 90) associated with signature pedagogy levels. Results reflect a limited focus on implicit level; the core concepts and values that all learners should understand and grasp for their future practice to construct their professional identity and engage in healthcare transformation. ConclusionsThe findings from this scoping review, should not be an isolated movement within nursing education. The first step is to engage in discourse amongst all stakeholders, educational and healthcare nurse leaders, regarding the state of the profession. As a profession we need to understand what is the preferred future of nursing and what are the necessary educational processes to ensure the profession is actualizing their mandate. A call to action to develop a unique signature pedagogy should provide synergy between education and practice to enhance learner's competencies as a future professional.

The Experience Economy in the Prism of Cultural and Value Paradigms

The article considers the experience economy (the economy of impressions) in the prism of its dependence and interdependence on the cultural and value paradigms of modern society. The relevance of the research is determined by the novelty of the analysis of the concept in relation to modern social axiology. The purpose of the article is to analyze the structure-forming elements of the experience economy in its correlation with cultural and value paradigms. The scope of the research includes the formulation of the principles of the experience economy as an important element of the service sector based on a customized approach to the client, consideration of its conceptual characteristics, as well as the analysis of the value-ethical component of this objective socioeconomic phenomenon inherent to post-industrial society. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the author's interpretation of this relatively modern marketing approach. The essence of the experience economy, its functions and basic principles are analyzed. The reasons for its increasing importance as a socio-humanitarian component contributing to sustainable development are discussed since that is especially relevant in the current conditions when the ontological, axiological and ethical aspects of the society are being reinterpreted. The importance of considering the values of different customer generations to form impressions and experiences is emphasized. The working principles of the experience economy are considered. In the course of the research, general scientific methods were used: in particular, integrative and systemic approaches, to allow the identification of the essential content of the marketing element; structural and functional approach, allowing for the exploration of the structure and functions of the experience economy; socio-cultural approach, in order to examine the characteristics of the phenomenon and its impact on the system of interaction between the brand and the consumer; as well as axiological approach, which allow for the identification of value orientations and attitudes in their correlations with social axiology. The prospects of the experience economy as a factor contributing to sustainable development from the point of view of its impact on the consumer behavior and society are analyzed. The research indicates the emergence of a new paradigm of sociocultural experience based on co-creation and acquisition of a unique collective experience. The increasing importance of growing social capital by doing work for public causes is emphasized. Specificities of the economy of impressions are described and its core concepts systematized. The author concludes that the economy of impressions is a response to the value orientations of millennials to modern challenges which determines their consumer behavior.

Advancing the Science and Application of Implementation Science to Promote Health Equity: Commentary on the Symposium.

There has been an increasing focus on making health equity a more explicit and foundational aspect of the research being conducted in public health and implementation science. This commentary provides an overview of five reviews in this Annual Review of Public Health symposium on Implementation Science and Health Equity. These articles reflect on and advance the application of core implementation science principles and concepts, with a focus on promoting health equity across a diverse range of public health and health care settings. Taken together, the symposium articles highlight critical conceptual, methodological, and empirical advances in the study designs, frameworks, and approaches that can help address equity considerations in the use of implementation science in both domestic and global contexts. Finally, this commentary highlights how work featured in this symposium can help inform future directions for rapidly taking public health to scale, particularly among systemically marginalized populations and communities.

Blockchain privacy and regulatory compliance: Towards a practical equilibrium

We study Privacy Pools, a novel smart contract-based privacy-enhancing protocol. The protocol introduces a mechanism for users to reveal certain properties of their transaction without having to reveal the transaction itself. The core concept involves allowing users to publish a zero-knowledge proof, demonstrating that their funds (do not) originate from known (un-)lawful sources, without publicly revealing their entire transaction history. This is achieved by proving membership in custom association sets, which are designed to demonstrate compliance with regulatory frameworks or social consensus. We illustrate how this mechanism can create a separating equilibrium between compliant and non-compliant withdrawals. Our work describes the technical underpinnings, incentives, and broader implications of this mechanism, highlighting how Privacy Pools-like protocols can create more private yet compliant blockchain transactions.

Procedural metadata for geographic information using an algebra of core concept transformations

Transformations are essential for dealing with geographic information. They are involved not only in the conversion between geodata formats and reference systems, but also in turning geodata into useful information according to some purpose. However, since a transformation can be implemented in various formats and tools, its function and purpose usually remains hidden underneath the technicalities of a workflow. To automate geographic information procedures, we therefore need to model the transformations implemented by workflows on a conceptual level, as a form of procedural knowledge. Although core concepts of spatial information provide a useful level of description in this respect, we currently lack a model for the space of possible transformations between such concepts. In this article, we present the algebra of core concept transformations (CCT). It consists of a type hierarchy which models core concepts as relation types, and a set of basic transformations described in terms of function signatures that use such types. We enrich GIS workflows with abstract machine-readable metadata, by compiling algebraic tool descriptions and inferring goal concepts across a workflow. In this article, we show how such procedural metadata can be used to retrieve workflows based on task descriptions derived from geo-analytical questions. Transformations can be queried independently from their implementations or data formats.

ENGAGEMENT DURING POST–ACUTE CARE TRANSITION: PERCEPTIONS AND EXPERIENCES OF DEMENTIA FAMILY CAREGIVERS

Abstract Hospitalized persons with dementia (PwD) are three times more likely to discharge to skilled nursing facilities (SNF) than those without dementia, and family caregivers are essential during post-acute care transitions (PACT). Descriptions of caregiver engagement are largely provider-centric, derived from either acute or residential settings. Little is known about PACT experiences of family caregivers. This study explored meaning, barriers, and facilitators of engagement for family caregivers navigating PACT, and elucidated caregiver support needs. An interpretive descriptive approach, using Meleis’s Middle Range Transition Theory was used to interview family caregivers during a PACT. Data were inductively coded and thematically analyzed. A conceptual framework illustrating caregivers’ meaning of engagement was developed, and facilitators, barriers, and needs were described. Participants (n=15), mostly white (n=12, 80%), female (n=13, 87%), married (n=7, 47%), adult children (n=11, 73%), average age of 63 (range: 38-81, SD=12.9). The core concept was advocacy. Key related themes were caregivers’ sense of being present, communication with providers, and meaningful connections with the PwD. Barriers to engagement centered on poor communication from professional caregivers and being isolated from the PwD. A facilitator to engagement was effective communication with professional caregivers. Similarly, caregivers’ support needs included receiving information related to the transition, and the health status of the PwD. Communication was central to both caregiver engagement and advocacy of PACT. Future policy/practice recommendations should include communication training for both providers and caregivers. Interventions that facilitate caregivers’ shared access and input into health information during PACT will promote integral roles on the care team.

Retracted: Bhavana, an Ayurvedic Pharmaceutical Method and a Versatile Drug Delivery Platform to Prepare Potentiated Micro-Nano-Sized Drugs: Core Concept and Its Current Relevance.

[This retracts the article DOI: 10.1155/2022/1685393.].

Trustworthiness of Research Results: Significant or Not?

Evidence informed practice relies integration of trusted research into decisions about care in collaboration with the patient’s wishes, available resources, and professional knowledge. In order to determine whether the research can be trusted, the professional requires an understanding of the quality of the research and potential for errors. All health professionals receive a basic research course in their undergraduate training, but it is sometimes difficult to apply this knowledge daily. The focus of this article is to review core concepts central to error and design, and to apply these to determine trustworthiness using a decision tree. It is hoped that this method will be helpful in examining future study findings and support decision making in your practice.

What does it mean to be asemiotic?

Although some researchers consider semiotics as a universal epistemological approach (Gaines, 2015), calling something ‘asemiotic’ may be challenging. However, one can find such characteristics in semioticians' work. For example, Tartu semiotic school cofounders Juri M. Lotman and Boris A. Uspensky argue that asemiotic is a way how proper name functions within mythological consciousness (Lotman; Uspensky, 1973). Despite the fact that this characteristics may be found in other scholars‘ works, research of ‘asemiotic’ continues to be a marginal field in semiotic studies.Since the ‘semiotic’ (related to semiotics) is determined in theoretical frameworks in different ways, the ‘asemiotic’ similarly does not stick to one meaning . In other words, asemiotic postulates the absence of the semiotic in the sense in which the scholar understands the semiotics. Otherwise, incompatibility of the theoretical sequence may lead to methodological inaccuracy. This may happen when one perceives semiotics as a unified theory. Thus, while it is not an accepted term, ‘asemiotic’ may have different meanings depending on the perspective. This research will delve into, the use of ‘asemiotic’ in the works of Guattari and Deleuze (1987), Nöth (1995, 2000) and Lotman and Uspensky as well as try to identify the case when scholars resort to using ‘asemiotic’ in their works. One may find different approaches of use, from the auxiliary instrument through the method of interpretation to the core concept.