Greater Personal Experience Research Articles

Public Food Trees’ Usage and Perception, and Their Potential for Participatory Edible Cities: A Case Study in Birjand, Iran

Public food trees are increasingly popular among researchers, urban planners, and citizens for their diversity of social, provisional, and environmental benefits. However, more research is needed to determine how to overcome their barriers. Here we used a qualitative approach to explore the usage and perception of public fruit trees and attitudes towards public usage and participation in two urban green spaces harboring fruit trees in Birjand, Iran: Tohid Park and Akbarieh Garden. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twelve visitors to both spaces, four administrators, and eight workers. Almost all visitors had great personal experience and interest in picking fruit; nevertheless, usage in these green spaces was low, partly due to social norms. Almost all visitors appreciated the public fruit trees for the diverse pleasures that they provide (sensory, emotional, cognitive, experiential, social). Ten also had a high interest in participating in their management, especially in Tohid Park due to its greater social impact. Education and access limitation were suggested by some as important to reduce tree damage and maximize production. Our findings expand our understanding of how citizens relate to public urban fruit trees and can be involved in co-management schemes, thereby contributing to building smart and participatory edible cities.

Are government expenditures more cyclical the more they finance the provision of public goods?

AbstractThe “publicness” of services provided by governments can be gauged with reference to the extent to which services are “non‐rival in consumption.” Services that are more “rival in consumption” (e.g., education and medical care) are more likely to be “parceled out” between citizens. With greater personal experience, voters are more likely to be aware of private‐good benefits and therefore are far more likely to perceive these services as part of a personal “endowment.” In economic downturns, they attach priority to sustaining expenditures on more “private” services and vote‐maximizing governments respond by diverting expenditure from “more public” to “more private” services. Consequently, government expenditures are more cyclical the more they finance non‐rival services. Predictions are tested with reference to government expenditures in 28 OECD countries between 1997 and 2019.

The trajectory of inclusive beliefs in beginning teachers

Inclusive education is supported by the belief that all students belong and are valued members of their neighborhood school communities. Teachers must possess beliefs that support inclusion before they are able to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to implement effective inclusive practice. Using The Beliefs About Learning and Teaching Questionnaire (BLTQ), 396 participants were followed for 4 years, from their initial year in preservice teacher education through to their second year of teaching to determine the trajectory of the development of inclusive beliefs. Distinct groups were identified. Those who began with lower inclusive beliefs that tended to decrease over time were more likely to be male. Those who began with higher inclusive beliefs that remained stable were more likely to be in the elementary panel and have greater professional experience. In addition, those with higher inclusive beliefs were more likely to have greater personal experience and weeks on practicum when they began their first course in inclusive education. Results are discussed with respect to teacher education for inclusive education.

Disputant Experience and Preferences for Mediated or Adjudicated Processes in Administrative Agencies: The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission Settlement Part Program

Research is limited regarding the type and amount of experience that matters for disputant preferences in dispute resolution processes. The authors focus on a unique federal appellate agency dispute resolution program at the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. Participants are professionals with repeat experience who are likely to have future interactions with the agency. Using survey data and regression analyses, the authors find that 1) greater personal experience with mediation or adjudication leads to a greater preference for mediation over adjudication; 2) higher levels of satisfaction with the fairness of process are associated with stronger preferences for mediation over adjudication; and 3) disputants who perceive a fair process in their most recent cases will express a greater preference for mediation over adjudication. Results have important implications for dispute system design.

Predictors of Comfort and Confidence Among Medical Students in Providing Care to Patients at Risk of Suicide.

The aim of this study was to identify factors associated with comfort and confidence in providing care to patients at risk of suicide, in a sample of Australian medical students. An online cross-sectional survey was completed by 116 current medical students (42% male) aged between 20 and 41years (M = 25, SD = 3.8). Greater personal experience of suicide and previous contact with patients with psychiatric problems were significantly associated with both increased perceived comfort and increased confidence in providing care for individuals with suicidal thoughts or behaviors, based on self-report. However, these effects may not reflect objective measures of competency and additional research is needed to assess generalizability of the findings due to the sampling method. Increasing medical student contact with patients at risk of suicide through the implementation of psychiatry placements, gateway programs, and early year exposure to patients with psychiatric problems may increase perceived confidence and comfort in providing care to individuals at risk of suicide. Further research should evaluate the impact of such programs on behavioral indices of clinical competency.

Cognitive Representations in a Self-regulation Model of Depression: Effects of Self–Other Distinctions, Symptom Severity and Personal Experiences with Depression

Using Leventhal's self-regulation model, this research investigated cognitive representations of depression in the context of previous work on mental health literacy. Undergraduates rated vignettes that systematically varied the target person (self or other) and depressive symptom severity (mild or moderate). Moderate symptoms, as expected, were viewed as more serious and debilitating than mild symptoms. Also as predicted, a self-positivity bias was evident, with cognitive representations for depression being less extreme for the self, when compared to another. Participants ascribed a shorter timeline, more situational than dispositional causes, less helpfulness for professional assistance, less severe consequences, and lower severity labels for the depressive symptoms that were self-referenced. Many of these self-positivity effects also remained evident in a further vignette that portrayed a month-long escalation of self-referent symptoms from mild to moderate. Greater personal experience with depression also had some limited impact on cognitive representations for the self-referent condition. Overall, these findings provide strong support for several facets of a self-regulation model of depression. They thus indicate a need for depression literacy research to more fully consider the influences of target person and symptom severity on cognitive representations of depression. Practical applications of the results to preventative efforts are also discussed.

Trust in government and support for governmental regulation: the case of electronic health records.

This paper presents results from a public engagement effort in Nebraska, USA, which measured public opinions about governmental involvement in encouraging the use of electronic health records (EHRs). We examine the role of trust in government in contributing to public support for government involvement in the development of EHR technologies. We hypothesize that trust in government will lead to support for federal and state governmental encouragement of the use of EHRs among doctors and insurance companies. Further, because individual experiences with health-care professionals will reduce perceptions of risk, we expect that support for governmental involvement will be tempered by greater personal experience with the health-care industry. Examining a small survey of individuals on the issue, we find general support for both of our hypotheses. The findings suggest that trust in government does have a positive relationship with support for government involvement in the policy domain, but that the frequency of personal experiences with health-care providers reduces the extent to which the public supports governmental involvement in the development of EHR technology. This inquiry contributes to our understanding of public attitudes towards government involvement in EHRs in the United States specifically and contributes to social science examining links between trust in government and support for governmental activity in the emerging policy domain regarding electronic health records systems.

Pitfalls of pancreatobiliary endoscopy after Billroth II gastrectomy.

The aim of this retrospective study is the analysis of the success rate of diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) in our group of patients with Billroth II gastrectomy. The study of the group was carried out during 14 years, i.e. from November 1994 to December 2008. It retrospectively evaluates 120 patients with Billroth II gastrectomy. A cannulation success rate of 90.8% (109 of 120 patients) was reached in performing ERCP in 120 patients with Billroth II gastrectomy. There were normal ERCP results in 4 patients. ERCP results in the remaining 105 patients were pathological. Endoscopic treatment was started in all of these 105 patients immediately after diagnostic ERCP. Overall, therapeutic ERCP was completely successful in 91 of 105 patients (86.66%) who were originally treated with endoscopy. ERCP in patients with Billroth II gastrectomy is much more demanding in contrast with standard procedure due to different postoperative anatomy. ERCP success is determined mainly by great personal experience and skillfulness of the endoscopist. ERCP performed lege artis in patients with Billroth II gastrectomy is a highly effective and safe method where the success rate reached can be almost the same as in a normal anatomical situation.

Relating risk experience, venturesomeness and risk perception

The relationship between venturesomeness, past personal experience of specific hazards and perceived characteristics of certain voluntary and involuntary hazardous activities was examined using data from a postal survey of 102 English nonstudent adults. Risk perception was related to both venturesomeness and past risk experiences but the nature of the relationship depended on whether the hazardous activity was voluntary or involuntary. Involuntary risks were more likely to be perceived as more unfamiliar, uncontrollable and involuntary by those who had greater personal experience of hazardous activities. Voluntary risks were more likely to be regarded as better understood and perceived to be assumed as a matter of choice by those who had greater personal experience of hazardous activities. Whilst no significant relationship was established between venturesomeness and perception of voluntary risk activities, it was related to perception of involuntary hazardous activities. High venturesomeness was associated with perceiving involuntary risk activities as having delayed effects and being unfamiliar.

Pharyngeal Cleft Sinuses and Cysts, and Other Benign Neck Lesions

Few pediatricians can expect to acquire great personal experience in dealing with many of the aforementioned lesions. Nevertheless, an appreciation of the usual presentation and natural history of most of the entities will usually permit an accurate diagnosis and guide to management in all but the most obscure conditions.

Beri-Beri. Its Symptoms and Symptomatic Treatment. An Essay Printed by the Board of Trinity College, Dublin, for the Author.

This little book contains nothing new concerning beri-beri, unless it be the statistical proof that other forms of treatment than the purely symptomatic are prejudicial. Those cases recover most rapidly that receive no other treatment than such as may be given for special symptoms. The arrangement of the matter in the book is peculiar. The great personal experience of the author should guarantee a reliable and complete clinical description of the disease.