Independent Efforts Research Articles

HAMBATAN PELAYANAN IBADAH DALAM SPIRITUAL CARE PADA PERSPEKTIF SOSIOECOLOGICAL MODEL: STUDI FENOMENOLOGI

Most health services recognize the enormous benefits of implementing patient spiritual care in health services. This is realized because humans need not only physically healthy, but also socially, psychologically and spiritually must be maintained from bad influences around them. The purpose of this study was to explore the barriers to the application of spiritual care in health services through a socioecological model perspective. This study used an interview method with a total sample of 18 people. Barriers to the application of spiritual care services from a socioecological perspective, at the level of patient/intrapersonal, family/interpersonal, nurses/service providers, and nursing managers/service providers. Some of the obstacles found were the inability to worship, limited religious facilities, limited knowledge and skills of spiritual care and inadequate human resources. Conclusion This study highlights the need to overcome barriers to spiritual care services at various socio-ecological levels in an effort to improve social, psychological health. and spirituality of the patient as an independent effort of the patient in helping his recovery.

Merdeka Curriculum Management Based on Character Education in The Millennial Generation

In this modern era n educational institutions, have demands to develop IPTEK demi the creation of quality outputs, so that students can develop creatively and can keep up with the times of the global era. And the morality of the lives of children (students) is now encountered many problems directly and on social media. from these problems, this study aims to analyze and describe how independent curriculum management is based on character education in the millennial generation. This research method uses a descriptive qualitative methodology based on books, journals and articles. This technique focuses on how to manage an independent character-based curriculum and efforts to form a millennial generation with character.

A New Agent-Based Intelligent Network Architecture

The advent of 5G and the design of its architecture has become possible because of the previous individual scientific works and standardization efforts on cloud computing and network softwarization. Software-defined Networking and Network Function Virtualization started separately to find their convolution into 5G network architecture. Then, the ongoing design of the future beyond 5G (B5G) and 6G network architecture cannot overlook the pivotal inputs of different independent standardization efforts about autonomic networking, service-based communication systems, and multi-access edge computing. This article provides the design and the characteristics of an agent-based, softwarized, and intelligent architecture, which coherently condenses and merges the independent proposed architectural works by different standardization working groups and bodies. This novel work is a helpful means for the design and standardization process of the futureB5G and 6G network architecture.

External validation of a CT-based radiomics signature in oropharyngeal cancer: Assessing sources of variation

Background and purposeRadiomics is a high-throughput approach that allows for quantitative analysis of imaging data for prognostic applications. Medical images are used in oropharyngeal cancer (OPC) diagnosis and treatment planning and these images may contain prognostic information allowing for treatment personalization. However, the lack of validated models has been a barrier to the translation of radiomic research to the clinic. We hypothesize that a previously developed radiomics model for risk stratification in OPC can be validated in a local dataset. Materials and methodsThe radiomics signature predicting overall survival incorporates features derived from the primary gross tumor volume of OPC patients treated with radiation +/- chemotherapy at a single institution (n = 343). Model fit, calibration, discrimination, and utility were evaluated. The signature was compared with a clinical model using overall stage and a model incorporating both radiomics and clinical data. A model detecting dental artifacts on computed tomography images was also validated. ResultsThe radiomics signature had a Concordance index (C-index) of 0.66 comparable to the clinical model’s C-index of 0.65. The combined model significantly outperformed (C-index of 0.69, p = 0.024) the clinical model, suggesting that radiomics provides added value. The dental artifact model demonstrated strong ability in detecting dental artifacts with an area under the curve of 0.87. ConclusionThis work demonstrates model performance comparable to previous validation work and provides a framework for future independent and multi-center validation efforts. With sufficient validation, radiomic models have the potential to improve traditional systems of risk stratification, treatment personalization and patient outcomes.

A Study on the Changes in Students' Cognitive Strategies in the Process of International Chinese Teaching

Objective: Since the “Belt and Road” initiative has been proposed by China in 2013, the number of foreign learners studying Chinese as a second language has shown a remarkable increase, contributing substantially to the development of international Chinese education. The individual differences of learners have received growing attention in Chinese international teaching, which reaped huge fruits in the research on teaching Chinese as a foreign language in terms of the cognitive style, cognitive strategies, and learning strategies of full-time international students. In the present study, the changes in learning strategies of part-time Chinese learners who work, live, and travel in China will be explored in depth. Methods: A total of 156 part-time Chinese learners aged 20 to 50 years old from 468 students from 42 different countries with a medium or below level of Chinese proficiency were identified as participants. Using the literature review method of survey analysis, a questionnaire was designed per the actual situation of learners, and statistical analysis was performed to investigate the alterations in the learning strategies during Chinese learning. Results: The results demonstrated that with the improvement of Chinese Proficiency Test level, the preference of field-dependent and field-independent students in choosing learning strategies converges, which contributes to the teachers' guidance for the foreign Chinese part-time students and boosts their learning efficiency. Conclusion: The complete separation of learning methods of "independence" and "communication and cooperation" is destructive in international Chinese teaching. In addition to assignments that require students' independent effort, opportunities for cooperation and communication are also indispensable for an optimal approach to teaching.

Virtual Waste Community: Sustainable Living in Digital Era

Waste is a problem in our society and still depends on the conventional management system. This paper discusses the interrelationship among virtual social media, waste management practice, and community-based economics in supporting sustainability and zero waste in the digital era. In particular, it attempts to identify the potential connections of social media in extending new environmental practices. Observation of two types of Indonesian Instagram accounts (personal and group) of waste-related illustrates that social media can act as an alternative platform to respond to waste issues. Qualitative case studies demonstrate the relationship between virtual social media, waste, and creative economic potential in various communities in Indonesia. This analysis focuses on independent efforts, especially regarding their potential related to environmental and economic factors. The findings show that virtual platforms related to urban waste management play an important role in three aspects. The personal aspect is related to building a sustainable lifestyle through informational and awareness content, the economic aspect is related to generating alternative circular creative economic for environmental communities, and environmental practice focuses on forming an independent and participatory waste management mechanism. Such connection in the virtual platforms brings new green digital infrastructure possibilities supporting sustainability.

유학과 대순사상의 생명론 비교 고찰

This paper aims to newly investigate the meaning of life in this era when various discussions on life and ethical living are commonly raised by comparing and examining the theories of life proposed by Confucianism and Daesoon Thought. Both Confucianism and Daesoon Thought explain the creation of all things as having been based on the principles of life in heaven and earth. Specifically, there is the will to live (生意 saengeui) and also divine beings (神明 sinmyeong). For this reason, everything in heaven and earth is created by obtaining the same principle of life such that it is an equal being with the same intrinsic value. Here the consciousness of being one body amid all things as one living thing is established. The consciousness of being one body forms an organic worldview in which all things are one. As a result, all things in heaven and earth exist within a mutual organic relationship, and that makes oneself and others precious life partners that coexist rather than separate beings. Nevertheless, both Confucianism and Daesoon Thought define humans as outstanding beings, set aside for a higher purpose than other beings. The excellence of humans is that by constantly engaging in self reflection and completing tasks through independent efforts, they thereby achieve the great moral doctrine of coexistence and symbiosis. In this process, cultivation of character (修養 suyang) and cultivation of the Dao (修道 sudo) are presented as means to realize one’s nature and establish the right human image. By realizing nature or humanity through the cultivation of character and cultivation of the Dao, humans fulfill their responsibilities and missions by independently participating in being nourished by Heaven and Earth (天地化育 cheonjihwayuk) or the Reordering Works of Heaven and Earth (天地公事 cheonjigongsa), both being based in the concept of the three generative forces of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity (天·地·人 cheon·ji·in). In the end, the theories of life posited by Confucianism and Daesoon Thought are based on a consciousness of being one body. Both emphasize the characteristics and roles of humans who are distinguished from other beings and phenomena. At this time, human characteristics and roles are revealed as the reasons for which humans have a responsibility and mission take care of all things. From this point of view, it can be seen that the theoretical structure of Neo-Confucianism and Daesoon Thought, in regards to their theories of life, is rather similar.

Zen Buddhism as a stratagem of self-realization from the perspective of modern civilizational transformations

The article analyzes the prospects for the civilizational development of mankind, focused on the education of a spiritual personality, which causes interest in the eastern cultural heritage in general and in philosophical thought in particular. Using the methodology of civilizational, sociocultural, axiological approaches, the authors assert a fundamental understanding of the dialogic nature of the modern social space. Referring to the ontological, epistemological, and ethical experience of Zen Buddhism, the authors propose to consider it as a worldview basis for the realization by a person of his free creative choice, his independent efforts to transform reality in accordance with his own ideals and values. The authors argue for the need to master the spiritual heritage of various cultures as an important condition for each person to acquire opportunities for their spiritual development.

Characterizing Crustose Lichen Communities—DNA Metabarcoding Reveals More than Meets the Eye

Biodiversity inventories are important for informing land management strategies, conservation efforts, and for biomonitoring studies. For many organismal groups, including lichens, comprehensive, accurate inventories are challenging due to the necessity of taxonomic expertise, limitations in sampling protocols, and the commonplace occurrence of morphologically cryptic species and other undescribed species. Lichen communities in arid regions are often dominated by crustose lichens, which have been particularly difficult to incorporate into biodiversity inventories. Here, we explore the utility of DNA metabarcoding for characterizing the diversity of lichen-forming fungi at a typical crustose lichen-dominated site on the Colorado Plateau in the southwestern USA. We assessed the consistency of independent sampling efforts to comprehensively document lichen diversity, evaluated the capability of minimally trained technicians to effectively sample the lichen communities, and provide a metagenomic-based inventory of lichen diversity, including representative sequence data, for a diverse, crustose-dominate lichen community on the Colorado Plateau. Our results revealed that crustose lichen communities in the southwestern USA are more diverse than traditionally thought, and community metabarcoding is a promising strategy for characterizing the lichen-forming fungal diversity more thoroughly than other methods. However, consistently sampling the diversity of crustose lichen communities, even at small spatial scales, remains difficult. Interpreting these results within a traditional taxonomic context remains challenging without the use of vouchers.

The Effect of Corporate Governance Structure on Fraud and Money Laundering

This paper aims to assess the effect of corporate governance mechanisms, including board members’ and audit committee members’ characteristics, particularly their independence, expertise in terms of finance and industry and efforts on the level of fraud and money laundering (ML) in financial statements of the listed firm on the Tehran Stock Exchange. The procedure of the study is descriptive correlation based on published information from firms listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange from 2014 to 2020, using a sample of 154 firms with 1071 observations. The method used for hypothesis testing is linear regression using panel data. The Benish model is used measure the level of fraud in financial statements, and for ML, the auditors’ opinion are used. The results show that board characteristics, including independence, financial expertise, industry expertise and board effort, as well as audit committee features, such as independence, financial expertise, industry expertise and audit committee effort, have a significant and negative impact on the fraudulent financial reporting and ML. Moreover, since this paper was carried out in an emerging financial market, particularly in Iran, to figure out the effect of corporate governance structures on financial statement fraud and ML, it can provide helpful information for investors and policymakers in this regard.

Personalized brain stimulation of memory networks

BackgroundThe finding that transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) can enhance memory performance via stimulation of parietal sites within the Cortical-Hippocampal Network counts as one of the most exciting findings in this field in the past decade. However, the first independent effort aiming to fully replicate this finding found no discernible influence of TMS on memory performance. ObjectiveWe examined whether this might relate to interindividual spatial variation in brain connectivity architecture, and the capacity of personalisation methodologies to overcome the noise inherent across independent scanners and cohorts. MethodsWe implemented recently detailed personalisation methodology to retrospectively compute individual-specific parietal targets and then examined relation to TMS outcomes. ResultsCloser proximity between actual and novel fMRI-personalized targets associated with greater improvement in memory performance. ConclusionThese findings demonstrate the potential importance of aligning brain stimulation targets according to individual-specific differences in brain connectivity, and extend upon recent findings in prefrontal cortex.

An international report on bacterial communities in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

The incidence of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is disproportionately high in the eastern corridor of Africa and parts of Asia. Emerging research has identified a potential association between poor oral health and ESCC. One possible link between poor oral health and ESCC involves the alteration of the microbiome. We performed an integrated analysis of four independent sequencing efforts of ESCC tumors from patients from high- and low-incidence regions of the world. Using whole genome sequencing (WGS) and RNA sequencing (RNAseq) of ESCC tumors from 61 patients in Tanzania, we identified a community of bacteria, including members of the genera Fusobacterium, Selenomonas, Prevotella, Streptococcus, Porphyromonas, Veillonella and Campylobacter, present at high abundance in ESCC tumors. We then characterized the microbiome of 238 ESCC tumor specimens collected in two additional independent sequencing efforts consisting of patients from other high-ESCC incidence regions (Tanzania, Malawi, Kenya, Iran, China). This analysis revealed similar ESCC-associated bacterial communities in these cancers. Because these genera are traditionally considered members of the oral microbiota, we next explored whether there was a relationship between the synchronous saliva and tumor microbiomes of ESCC patients in Tanzania. Comparative analyses revealed that paired saliva and tumor microbiomes were significantly similar with a specific enrichment of Fusobacterium and Prevotella in the tumor microbiome. Together, these data indicate that cancer-associated oral bacteria are associated with ESCC tumors at the time of diagnosis and support a model in which oral bacteria are present in high abundance in both saliva and tumors of some ESCC patients.

Organic Ingredients Test to SB 03 Clones Growth SB 19 and SB 33 of Sugarcane Plant (Saccharum officinarum L.)

Community service activities are the implementation of the practice of science, technology and cultural arts directly in the community as a dissemination of the Tri Dharma of Higher Education and noble responsibilities in an effort to develop community capabilities, so as to accelerate the growth rate of achieving national development goals.
 The problem that exists in the foundation is that there is no independent effort and only expects donations from donors so that this service aims to provide input and help the Fadhilah Gresik Princess Orphans Foundation in seeking other funding income in managing the Foundation's operations. The implementation will use the method of giving lectures and direct training to administrators and orphans in learning to make handicrafts, and the training participants are administrators and female orphans with a total of 40 participants. The results of community service have been able to provide entrepreneurial motivation independently which is received with a good response, , and have been able to develop the potential of the Fadhilah Gresik Yatim Putri Foundation through handicrafts from Kur and Knitting ropes with real product results, and can provide solutions to income problems. Operational funds, by selling the handicrafts produced, through direct sales through online social media sales, so that later the Fadhilah Gresik Princess Orphans Foundation, can get income other than donors.

The Importance of Training and Providing Entrepreneurial Independence Motivation : Making Crafts and Knitting Ropes

Community service activities are the implementation of the practice of science, technology and cultural arts directly in the community as a dissemination of the Tri Dharma of Higher Education and noble responsibilities in an effort to develop community capabilities, so as to accelerate the growth rate of achieving national development goals.
 The problem that exists in the foundation is that there is no independent effort and only expects donations from donors so that this service aims to provide input and help the Fadhilah Gresik Princess Orphans Foundation in seeking other funding income in managing the Foundation's operations. The implementation will use the method of giving lectures and direct training to administrators and orphans in learning to make handicrafts, and the training participants are administrators and female orphans with a total of 40 participants. The results of community service have been able to provide entrepreneurial motivation independently which is received with a good response, , and have been able to develop the potential of the Fadhilah Gresik Yatim Putri Foundation through handicrafts from Kur and Knitting ropes with real product results, and can provide solutions to income problems. Operational funds, by selling the handicrafts produced, through direct sales through online social media sales, so that later the Fadhilah Gresik Princess Orphans Foundation, can get income other than donors.

Anatomical, Ontogenetic, and Genomic Homologies Guide Reconstructions of the Teeth-to-Baleen Transition in Mysticete Whales

The transition in Mysticeti (Cetacea) from capture of individual prey using teeth to bulk filtering batches of small prey using baleen ranks among the most dramatic evolutionary transformations in mammalian history. We review phylogenetic work on the homology of mysticete feeding structures from anatomical, ontogenetic, and genomic perspectives. Six characters with key functional significance for filter-feeding behavior are mapped to cladograms based on 11 morphological datasets to reconstruct evolutionary change across the teeth-to-baleen transition. This comparative summary within a common parsimony framework reveals extensive conflicts among independent systematic efforts but also broad support for the newly named clade Kinetomenta (Aetiocetidae + Chaeomysticeti). Complementary anatomical studies using CT scans and ontogenetic series hint at commonalities between the developmental programs for teeth and baleen, lending further support for a 'transitional chimaeric feeder' scenario that best explains current evidence on the transition to filter feeding. For some extant mysticetes, the ontogenetic sequence in fetal specimens recapitulates the inferred evolutionary transformation: from teeth, to teeth and baleen, to just baleen. Phylogenetic mapping of inactivating mutations reveals mutational decay of ‘dental genes’ related to enamel formation before the emergence of crown Mysticeti, while ‘baleen genes’ that were repurposed or newly derived during the evolutionary elaboration of baleen currently are poorly characterized. Review and meta-analysis of available data suggest that the teeth-to-baleen transition in Mysticeti is one of the best characterized macroevolutionary shifts due to the diversity of data from the genome, the fossil record, comparative anatomy, and ontogeny that directly bears on this remarkable evolutionary transformation.

High-resolution subglacial topography around Dome Fuji, Antarctica, based on ground-based radar surveys over 30 years

Abstract. The retrieval of continuous ice core records of more than 1 Myr is an important challenge in palaeo-climatology. For identifying suitable sites for drilling such ice, knowledge of the subglacial topography and englacial layering is crucial. For this purpose, extensive ground-based ice radar surveys were carried out over Dome Fuji in the East Antarctic plateau during the 2017/18 and 2018/19 austral summers by the Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition, on the basis of ground-based radar surveys conducted over the previous ∼ 30 years. High-gain Yagi antennae were used to improve the antenna beam directivity, thereby significantly decreasing hyperbolic features of unfocused along-track diffraction hyperbolae in the echoes from mountainous ice–bedrock interfaces. We combined the new ice thickness data with the previous ground-based data, recorded since the 1980s, to generate an accurate high-spatial-resolution (up to 0.5 km between survey lines) ice thickness map. This map revealed a complex landscape composed of networks of subglacial valleys and highlands. Based on the new map, we examined the roughness of the ice–bed interface, the bed surface slope, the driving stress of ice and the subglacial hydrological condition. These new products and analyses set substantial constraints on identifying possible locations for new drilling. In addition, our map was compared with a few bed maps compiled by earlier independent efforts based on airborne radar data to examine the difference in features between datasets. Our analysis suggests that widely available bed topography products should be validated with in situ observations where possible.

Often asserted, never confirmed: the role of attitude in the acceptance of mandatory technology use, let’s settle this question statistically for LMS use in the educational context

ABSTRACT The objective of this research is to evaluate statistically the role of the attitude variable as a mediator in the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model in the context of mandatory use of technology. We chose this objective to address two research gaps: the prevailing divide in opinions about the role of attitude in technology acceptance models and the contradictory results obtained by acceptance models in the context of mandatory use of technology. Achieving this objective will enable us to address the perennial question of the role of attitude in acceptance literature and to assess the boundaries of UTAUT, thus contributing to its continued development and providing guidance for its evolution. Data were collected from 475 students enrolled in online courses at a Canadian university that required the mandatory use of a learning management system (LMS). Results show that attitude exerts full mediation of the relationships between the independent variables performance expectancy and effort expectancy and the dependent variable behavioural intention. This mediation becomes partial for facilitating conditions and fades out for social influence. We call into question the relevance of behavioural intention as a measure of technology acceptance and present theoretical contributions and practical recommendations.

Students’ Autonomous Learning Activities outside the Classroom to Master English as a Foreign Language

The complexity of foreign language learning and its restricted time to learn in the classroom need proactive efforts from the English students outside the classroom with full initiative and effort. This study tended to investigate to what extent students’ autonomous learning activities outside the classroom to master English (four English skills). This study applied a descriptive quantitative design. It was conducted at a state university in Majene, West Sulawesi, Indonesia in the academic year 2021/2022. The population was English education students in the second and third years. There were 62 students who participated in this research. They were selected by using a convenience sampling technique. To gain the data, this research employed a questionnaire as a research instrument which consists of 16 items of statements. The data, then, were analyzed by employing descriptive statistics. Based on the data analysis, it was found that students’ autonomous learning activities outside the classroom are still limited to activities that are entertaining for them. Apart from that, it has not been found that their extra efforts are done independently to become more proficient in every English skill. This indicates that students are still passive learners. By knowing the independent learning efforts carried out by students out of the classroom, English lecturers are expected to be able to design policies or teaching strategies to guide students so that they can increase their efforts by optimizing the wealth of available independent learning resources.

A Place under the Sun: Planning, Landscape and Participation in a Case of a Solar Powerplant in the Israeli Desert

Studies demonstrate the lack of common interpretations and rigorous methods for landscape assessments (LA) during design and siting of renewable energy (RES) facilities. Research shows how perceived landscape impacts influence public willingness to accept changes in the landscape. The connection between the effectiveness of LA procedures vis-à-vis the inclusion of the public in decision-making related to RES siting has received less attention. We, therefore, examine the role of LAs in planning via the eyes of policymakers and experts, and evaluate the capacity of current tools to influence the process. Additionally, we analyze the role (or lack thereof) of the public in LAs. Our unique case—one of the largest in the world thermo-solar “tower” plant, located near a small desert village—exemplifies the place for landscape consideration in national-level mega-infrastructure. Based on documents analysis and semi-structured interviews, the findings demonstrate the struggle between competing goals such as financial and temporal efficiency, RES targets, landscape protection, and public participation. We conclude that first, despite independent efforts to promote the latter two, there may be little connection between the assessment of landscape effects and public participation because there is no mechanism for post-evaluation of a project’s impacts, and any debates on the actual effects remain theoretical. Second, that landscape impacts of large-scape infrastructure can mainly be avoided in the stage of site location, and at this stage, the room for public input remains limited.

Factors Influencing Students’ Continuous Intentions for Using Micro-Lectures in the Post-COVID-19 Period: A Modification of the UTAUT-2 Approach

Micro-lectures, i.e., short learning videos on a specific aspect of a topic, have become one of the most effective technology-based learning media approaches and were widely used during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, in the post-pandemic era starting from early 2022, as K-12 students have been allowed to resume going to school, it is necessary to evaluate students’ intentions to continuously use micro-lectures for learning mathematics. Therefore, this study aims to explore attitudes and continuous intentions of students towards the utilization of micro-lectures. To investigate students’ intentions of using micro-lectures, we utilized the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT-2). Data were collected from 321 junior high school students (14–17 years old) in Bandung, Indonesia, who used online classes and micro-lectures to learn mathematics during the pandemic. A structural equation model was also used to analyze the independent (performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating condition, hedonic motivation, and habit) and dependent (attitude and continuous intention) variables. Furthermore, online questionnaires were used to obtain data on students’ attitudes and continuous intention to utilize micro-lectures in the post-COVID-19 era. The results suggested that effort expectancy (EE) and hedonic motivation (HM) had a significant effect on attitudes, whose correlation with habit also influenced the continuous intention during this post-pandemic period. Despite these results, the habit variable was found to be the factor most influencing continuous intention. These results provide information to teachers, schools, and the government to continuously increase the use of micro-lectures based on improving student learning performances in the post-pandemic era.