Individual Concepts Research Articles

Epistemological criticism of the concept of individualism in conventional economies

This research critically examines the epistemology surrounding the concept of individualism within conventional economics, focusing on elucidating the influence of non-economic factors—namely culture, social norms, and collective psychology—on economic decision-making processes. This study endeavors to uncover the role of these factors in individual economic decisions by employing a methodology rooted in analyzing economic and sociological literature. The findings shed light on the discordance between the traditional notion of individualism and the multifaceted realities of contemporary society, where culture, social norms, and collective psychology significantly shape economic behaviors and preferences. By providing nuanced insights into how these non-economic factors impact individuals' economic choices and actions, this research underscores the imperative for a broader, more inclusive perspective within economic paradigms. This study contributes to a richer comprehension of the complexities inherent in individual economic decisions when viewed against non-economic influences.

Contrasting Conceptions of Work–Family Balance and the Implications for Satisfaction with Balance during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Pandemic-related changes, including the expansion of remote work and the closure of schools and daycare supports, posed unprecedented challenges to parents’ conceptions of their work and home routines. Drawing on interviews with 88 heterosexual partnered parents, we examine the different ways parents understand what it means to balance work and family responsibilities and how their conceptions shaped satisfaction with their balance during the COVID-19 pandemic. First, we discover that parents held three distinct conceptions of work–family balance at the outset of the pandemic: (1) individualistic (where balance is understood as an individual pursuit and regarded independently of their partner’s efforts in the work and family spheres), (2) specialized (where each partner specializes in one sphere, producing balance between spheres), and (3) egalitarian (where partners share responsibilities in both spheres). Next, among the women and men who held specialized or egalitarian conceptions of balance, most sustained their level of satisfaction. In contrast, among those with individualistic conceptions, most women (but not men) reported a change in their satisfaction. These findings provide new insights about the varied meanings people attach to the concept of “work–family balance” and how these diverse conceptions have consequences for satisfaction with gender dynamics in households.

A novel differential evolution algorithm with multi-population and elites regeneration.

Differential Evolution (DE) is widely recognized as a highly effective evolutionary algorithm for global optimization. It has proven its efficacy in tackling diverse problems across various fields and real-world applications. DE boasts several advantages, such as ease of implementation, reliability, speed, and adaptability. However, DE does have certain limitations, such as suboptimal solution exploitation and challenging parameter tuning. To address these challenges, this research paper introduces a novel algorithm called Enhanced Binary JADE (EBJADE), which combines differential evolution with multi-population and elites regeneration. The primary innovation of this paper lies in the introduction of strategy with enhanced exploitation capabilities. This strategy is based on utilizing the sorting of three vectors from the current generation to perturb the target vector. By introducing directional differences, guiding the search towards improved solutions. Additionally, this study adopts a multi-population method with a rewarding subpopulation to dynamically adjust the allocation of two different mutation strategies. Finally, the paper incorporates the sampling concept of elite individuals from the Estimation of Distribution Algorithm (EDA) to regenerate new solutions through the selection process in DE. Experimental results, using the CEC2014 benchmark tests, demonstrate the strong competitiveness and superior performance of the proposed algorithm.

A Transcultural Interpretation of Key Concepts in China-US Relations: Hegemony, Democracy, Individualism and Collectivism

Abstract China-US bilateral relations suffer from periodical setbacks and transcultural communication has a positive role to play in improving those relations. As the largest two economies in the world today, both China and the United States draw inspiration from different traditions and cultures, rendering it difficult for the two countries to see eye to eye with each other when it comes to the key concepts of hegemony, democracy, individualism, and collectivism. Etymological roots, historical traditions, and national experiences help explain political realities and theoretical frameworks concerning these key concepts. For hegemony, force is emphasized for its role in US dominance or authority while China condemns hegemonism. For democracy, the means of the normative right to vote is highlighted in the US while the ends of people’s needs and welfare are underscored in China. For individualism and collectivism, it is no longer viable to stand aloof and mind just one’s own business, as the world is shrinking into a global village with intertwined destinies. A transcultural interpretation of key concepts in China-US relations can help enhance mutual understanding and facilitate dialogue through exchange and communication, hence contributing to the improvement of bilateral ties.

IMPLEMENTATION OF PRINCIPLES OF INDIVIDUALIZATION AND DIFFERENTIATION IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE CLASSES IN HIGH SCHOOL

The article examines the system and approaches of individualization and differentiation in the process of learning a foreign language in higher education. Determined factors that affect their functioning in the process of working in classes. Separate problems and ways to overcome them are analyzed. Certain opportunities for creating favorable conditions for the development of the creative potential of an individual, development of his thinking and understanding of the ultimate goal and task of learning a foreign language have been identified. Methods and techniques for increasing students’ cognitive activity in classes and strengthening their motivation are illustrated. The article examines the views of scientists N.P. Volkova, G.R. Havryshchak, O.M. Shparyk on individualization and differentiation as dominant and organic components of the educational process. Various approaches to the concepts of differentiation and individualization, as well as concepts related to them, are summarized. The works of these scientists became the theoretical and methodological basis of the conducted research. These principles help to find effective means for teaching a foreign language and learning it effectively. We must not forget that in higher education, the main influence on a student is his mood, curiosity, drive, concentration, surprise. The ability to stimulate the mental states we desire requires a process of individualization and differentiation of each student. A unique approach should be the whole system of education and training of the individual. This article describes the technology of implementing the abovementioned principles in English language classes in higher education. The use of internal differentiation for working in groups and the cluster method for strengthening the cognitive development of each individual when learning a foreign language in higher education are illustrated. The problem of a wide range of possibilities of these principles in the conditions of changes in the system of social relationships, rules of student behavior in the new realities of life is raised. Emphasis is placed on the importance of new requirements for the education system: flexibility, adaptability, feedback, quick response to changes in the social environment, cooperation with psychologists. Considered possible means of organizing students’ work in groups and individually, determined prospects for further research in this direction.

Role of Physical Activities during Working Hours in Promoting Planetary Health

Work can be a source of a meaningful life and well-being. It can also be a source of stress and mental illness. The trends concerning working life development involve intensification and individualisation, and, at the same time, the demands of expertise work are such that they need collaborative actions. With respect to well-being, there is a need for individuals to see themselves members of the community. In this study, we identified vocational education staff types by studying the connections between physical activities and experienced workload. The data were collected by using empathy-based stories. The method of analysing the data can be described as a discursive–narrative approach based on qualitative and thematic content analyses. Based on the data, four story types were established: Forerunner, Exhausted, Leisure-Time Enthusiast, and Thinker. Individual conceptions of breaks, workload, free time, and awareness of one’s well-being were found to be important in the creation of a healthy working life. There is a need to discuss realistic work demands in the vocational education context. Education and active teacher members could be key actors in achieving sustainability goals and improving planetary health.

A holistic view of human rights and its application in the context of infectious disease pandemics

Under the new coronavirus epidemic, the implementation of public health measures has generated some resistance in countries around the world. The essence of examining the human rights claims of those who oppose the epidemic is that they have a too narrow understanding of individual human rights and ignore the obligation implications of human rights itself. From the historical point of view, health and epidemic prevention is the objective necessity of the survival and development of human society; From the ethical point of view, the joint fight against the epidemic is the moral obligation of the coordinated development of individuals and society. From the normative point of view, the management of infectious diseases is the basic consensus established by many international conventions. To correct the narrow understanding of individual human rights concept, the global human rights concept should be established in pandemic governance, and the concept of human health community should be shaped in the pandemic convention to build governance consensus, implement the same health concept to clarify the scope of governance, implement the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, and strengthen the participation of individuals and communities in public health governance to improve governance paths. To shape a more reasonable and effective pandemic governance order.

Decentralized multi-agent reinforcement learning based on best-response policies.

Introduction: Multi-agent systems are an interdisciplinary research field that describes the concept of multiple decisive individuals interacting with a usually partially observable environment. Given the recent advances in single-agent reinforcement learning, multi-agent reinforcement learning (RL) has gained tremendous interest in recent years. Most research studies apply a fully centralized learning scheme to ease the transfer from the single-agent domain to multi-agent systems. Methods: In contrast, we claim that a decentralized learning scheme is preferable for applications in real-world scenarios as this allows deploying a learning algorithm on an individual robot rather than deploying the algorithm to a complete fleet of robots. Therefore, this article outlines a novel actor-critic (AC) approach tailored to cooperative MARL problems in sparsely rewarded domains. Our approach decouples the MARL problem into a set of distributed agents that model the other agents as responsive entities. In particular, we propose using two separate critics per agent to distinguish between the joint task reward and agent-based costs as commonly applied within multi-robot planning. On one hand, the agent-based critic intends to decrease agent-specific costs. On the other hand, each agent intends to optimize the joint team reward based on the joint task critic. As this critic still depends on the joint action of all agents, we outline two suitable behavior models based on Stackelberg games: a game against nature and a dyadic game against each agent. Following these behavior models, our algorithm allows fully decentralized execution and training. Results and Discussion: We evaluate our presented method using the proposed behavior models within a sparsely rewarded simulated multi-agent environment. Although our approach already outperforms the state-of-the-art learners, we conclude this article by outlining possible extensions of our algorithm that future research may build upon.

Surrendering the Self

In his novel Annihilation, author Jeff Vandermeer provides a science-fiction narrative on nature as an unstoppable and uncontrollable environment where plants, animals, humans, and the land exist as a collective and connected entity of interactions. The novel utilizes Lovecraftian horror elements of an uncontrollable nature, human contamination, and an unknowable future controlled by nonhuman forces to portray both a multispecies environment and the posthuman future. Read through a multispecies lens and framed by Donna Haraway’s Staying with the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene, this essay is an analysis of how Annihilation’s setting—Area X—necessitates the removal of human-centered processes and the human concept of individualism for favor of a flourishing multispecies environment. Its analysis exemplifies the genre of science fiction as a method to expand the boundaries of our perceived human-centered world. The narrative and rhetorical structures utilized by Vandermeer in his representation of real-world environments and natural processes as uncanny horrors and an off-center reality accurately represent the unknown future beyond the human species.

Are we on the same page? Individual interpretations of missions within human service nonprofits

AbstractWithout unique missions to serve a public purpose, nonprofits have no justification to exist. Much of the focus on mission in scholarship centers on concerns with mission drift and pressures from external actors. Yet internal dynamics may be just as important in developing a common mission and the coherent activities pursuing it. This research identifies the structural forces shaping organizational members' individual mission conceptions and leading them to emulate and converge around a shared dominant conception. We apply the concept of institutional isomorphism to 104 interviews conducted with staff, managers, board members, and volunteers from 14 human services nonprofits and explain the isomorphic pathways of individuals adopting dominant mission conceptions. Employing qualitative comparative analysis, we analyze the interviews capturing various combinations of individual backgrounds, motivations for joining the organization, and language used to share the mission with others. We find the presence of seven isomorphic pathways leading nonprofit professionals to adopt the dominant interpretations.

“They created segregation with the economy”: Using AI for a student-driven inquiry into redlining in the social studies classroom

ABSTRACT This article investigates students’ engagement with a historical inquiry into redlining—a practice of discriminatory lending that originated in the 1930s as part of the New Deal. The authors developed and implemented a week-long curricular intervention for high school sophomores using StoryQ—an Artificial Intelligence (AI) textual modeling platform designed for high school students without technical expertise—to examine hundreds of neighborhood descriptions produced for the Home Owners Loan Corporation’s “residential security maps” in the late 1930s. In this article, we ask: What kinds of historical and present-day racial awareness do high school students demonstrate through instruction focused on AI-assisted analysis of patterns in redlining? Analyzing field notes, interviews, and student-generated digital work showed that many students were drawn to structural explanations of racism and worked to unpack the way primary sources presented Whiteness through “coded language.” We argue that it is not only possible for teachers to construct historical inquiries that aim to identify patterns in a large set of primary sources with the aid of AI, but this approach to inquiry offers students an important avenue to engage with alternatives to individual conceptions of racial oppression.

Experiences and resultant care gaps among women with HIV in Canada: concept mapping the Canadian HIV Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health Cohort Study (CHIWOS) findings

ObjectivesThe community-based, longitudinal, Canadian HIV Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health Cohort Study (CHIWOS) explored the experiences of women with HIV in Canada over the past decade. CHIWOS’ high-impact publications document...

The Importance of the Development of Compilation of Monolingual Dictionaries (by the Example of the Explanatory Dictionary of the Kazakh Language)

There are many types of dictionaries depending on the purpose and scope of use. Among them, a special place is occupied by monolingual explanatory dictionaries, which reflect the vocabulary of the cultural life of the people as a whole. Explanatory dictionaries are a real resource that collects the vocabulary of a language in one place. The creation and improvement of monolingual dictionaries has its own unique features. Therefore, it is important to continue the tradition of employing the basics of lexicography in explanatory dictionaries, expand them, republish them, and constantly update them. The article emphasizes the importance of constantly updating the explanatory dictionary and improving its vocabulary articles. In particular, the 15-volume “Dictionary of the Kazakh Literary Language”, prepared by the Akhmet Baitursynuly Institute of Linguistics in the Republic of Kazakhstan in 2011, was selected. This dictionary is an example of creating an explanatory dictionary, reflecting existing traditions and practices of scientific creation of dictionaries. In addition, the article also discusses such issues as ways to enrich the content of dictionary entries by selecting the examples from works of art, examples of spelling complex words, conventional abbreviations; it also provides various explanations of individual concepts for dictionary entries. Particular attention is paid to explaining political terms such as “sovet” (Soviet) and “tarikh” (history) associated with the Soviet era.

Concept analysis of ‘Facilitating a transformative radiation protection environment’

IntroductionSuboptimal radiation protection evidenced in literature necessitated the development of a theory to optimise radiation protection. To develop a theory, concept analysis of the central concept guiding the theory is required to provide explicit theoretical and operational definitions. This article presents the concept analysis of the central concept of ‘facilitating a transformative radiation protection environment’ used to develop a theory to optimise radiation protection. MethodsThe study used Walker and Avant's concept analysis process of selecting a concept, determining the aims and purpose of analysis, identifying all uses of the concept, and determining the defining attributes by identifying a model case, a borderline case and a contrary case. ResultsThe central concept was dissected into the individual concepts of facilitating, transformative, radiation, protection, and environment to enhance the definition and conceptual meaning of the central concept. The essential and related attributes of the individual concepts informed the summative definition of the central concept, and a model, borderline and contrary case contributed to the conceptual meaning. ConclusionThe summative definition of the central concept of “facilitating a transformative radiation protection environment” was determined to be through the essential attributes of help, process, change, X-rays, keeping safe considering the benefits versus risks of ionising radiation exposure and the total internal, external context within which persons exist and the related attributes. Implications for practiceExplored extensively in nursing literature, concept analyses in radiography are limited. Therefore, this article articulates the process of concept analysis and its use in radiography. Concept analysis provides a systematic process to analyse concepts often assumed to be understood, highlighting its importance in radiography literature and to educational praxis.

Individualized Multimodal Immunotherapy (IMI): Scientific Rationale and Clinical Experience from a Single Institution.

Oncolytic viruses and combinatorial immunotherapy for cancer (this Special Issue) are both part of cancer treatment at IOZK. This review focusses on an individual multimodal cancer immunotherapy concept developed by IOZK, Cologne, Germany. The scientific rationale for employing three main components is explained: (i) oncolytic Newcastle disease virus, (ii) modulated electrohyperthermia and (iii) individual tumor antigen and oncolytic virus modified dendritic cell vaccine (IO-VACR). The strategy involves repeated cancer-immunity cycles evoked in cancer patients by systemic oncolytic virus exposure plus hyperthermia pretreatment to induce immunogenic cell death followed by intradermal IO-VACR vaccination. As an example of the experience at IOZK, we present the latest results from combining the immunotherapy with standard treatment of patients suffering from glioblastoma multiforme. The promising clinical results in terms of overall survival benefit of additional individualized multimodal immunotherapy are presented. The cancer-immunity cycle, as introduced 10 years ago, describes key important steps occurring locally at the sites of both tumor and draining lymph nodes. This view is extended here towards systemic events occuring in blood where immunogenic cell death-induced tumor antigens are transported into the bone marrow. For 20 years it has been known that bone marrow is an antigen-responsive organ in which dendritic cells present tumor antigens to T cells leading to immunological synapse formation, tumor antigen-specific T cell activation and memory T cell formation. Bone marrow is known to be the most prominent source of de novo cellular generation in the body and to play an important role for the storage and maintenance of immunological memory. Its systemic activation is recommended to augment cancer-immunity cycles.

Традиционные духовные ценности как глокальная основа интерпретации аксиологических концептов в кинодискурсе

The article studies multimodal verbal, visual and auditory mechanisms of contamination of universal, global and national value spaces in the aspect of dominant axiological concepts’ interpretation of regional film discourse. Film discourse can be considered as the most representative field for the shift of value dominants, combining various semiotic code systems for the most effective implementation of the perlocutionary effect, pursuing the main goal of transforming the conceptual and value space of the recipient. As part of the analysis of the key methods of glocalization of axiologems, a complex of methods of the hermeneutic and interpretative approach was used, including contextual, linguacultural, etymological, linguaaxiological, discursive and modal methods. The polymodal and polycode nature of the empirical material requires systematic consideration of ways to intensify traditional spiritual values in their verbalization. The key method of contaminating tradition and innovation in modifying the content of axiological concepts is a constitutive link to global, universal components shared by other ethnonational communities. Such an association occurs in the context of the expansion of the positive and negative spaces of the described concept deportation, which is significant both for the Karachay-Balkarian linguaculture under consideration and for many peoples of the USSR. The concept represents a whole precedent world, including individual concepts for concretizing values and anti-values in a situational and local rethinking. The key axiological concepts in the translation of traditional values and anti-values of the deportation are recognized as jashau (“life”), as a global axiologeme, with the concept of elum/ajal (“death”) leveled out and thrown to the periphery; as well as private locally interpreted concepts bilim (“knowledge”), syy/namys (“dignity/honor”), kishilik (“courage”), azatlyk (“freedom”). The overtones of universal perception in the generalized content of these concepts make it possible to create a glocalized space of interpretation that reflects common values and meanings in the ethno-national linguistic consciousness.

All but One: Surgical Concept Erasing with Model Preservation in Text-to-Image Diffusion Models

Text-to-Image models such as Stable Diffusion have shown impressive image generation synthesis, thanks to the utilization of large-scale datasets. However, these datasets may contain sexually explicit, copyrighted, or undesirable content, which allows the model to directly generate them. Given that retraining these large models on individual concept deletion requests is infeasible, fine-tuning algorithms have been developed to tackle concept erasing in diffusion models. While these algorithms yield good concept erasure, they all present one of the following issues: 1) the corrupted feature space yields synthesis of disintegrated objects, 2) the initially synthesized content undergoes a divergence in both spatial structure and semantics in the generated images, and 3) sub-optimal training updates heighten the model's susceptibility to utility harm. These issues severely degrade the original utility of generative models. In this work, we present a new approach that solves all of these challenges. We take inspiration from the concept of classifier guidance and propose a surgical update on the classifier guidance term while constraining the drift of the unconditional score term. Furthermore, our algorithm empowers the user to select an alternative to the erasing concept, allowing for more controllability. Our experimental results show that our algorithm not only erases the target concept effectively but also preserves the model’s generation capability.

Urogenital tumors following kidney transplantation-monocentric analysis of incidences and overview of urological preventive measures

Urogenital tumors are among the most common solid malignancies after kidney transplantation (TX). We analyzed the incidence and mortality of urogenital tumors after kidney TX in our own patient population as well as answered the question of recommended follow-up necessity and frequency in this cohort. Retrospective monocentric data collection of tumor diseases and the most common urogenital tumors after kidney TX at the Transplant Center Dresden between 2010 and 2020 was done. From this, we derived recommendations for auseful follow-up concept. Atotal of 13% (93/710) of kidney TX patients developed aneoplasm. Older patients (60.1 ± 10.6 vs. 53.8 ± 12.5; p < 0.001), with higher Charlson scores (≥ 4: 68% vs. 46%; p < 0.001) and aprevious tumor history (18% vs. 8%; p < 0.001) were more likely to develop aneoplasm after transplantation. In the multivariate analysis, previous tumor history was found to be an independent predictor of tumor development after renal transplantation (OR 2.2; 95%-KI [1.2-4.1]; p = 0.01). Urogenital tumors accounted for 30% (28/93) of all malignancies. Renal cell carcinoma of the native kidney was the most common (n = 12) neoplasm, followed by prostate cancer (n = 9). Most solid malignancies after kidney TX arise from the urinary tract. Due to their frequency, there is an urgent need for specialized urological therapy and long-term follow-up care. Even before listing for TX, risk factors can be recognized and individual concepts for follow-up care can be developed.

PHILOSOPHICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL ORIENTATIONS OF LIFE CREATIVITY IN THE LITERARY ANTHROPOLOGY OF THE MODERN

Actual scientific researches and issues analysis. In the literature, the problem of creativity was considered by many authors, in particular, such as: E. Fromm, A. Schopenhauer, F. Nietzsche. The development of the essence of concepts in Modern literature is considered in the works of domestic authors: S. Pavlychko, D. Nalivayka, V. Morenets, T. Gundorova, M. Moklitsa, R. Movchan, A. Bychko, O. Zabuzhko, R. Semkiv. The research objective. To achieve the results of the task, a structured analysis of the formation of the concepts of individualism and subjectivity, which are the source of the problem with deep searches and reflections on the meaning of existence and human being through the prism of modern anthropogenesis, was carried out. The statement of basic materials. The article highlights the philosophical and psychological orientations of life creation in the literary anthropology of the Modern era, which involve the modern person through the prism of concepts to the understanding of his existence. Having analyzed the prose works of Ukrainian Modern authors in comparison with foreign authors, she came to the conclusion that truth exists in every subjective worldview of an individual, therefore, the importance of one's own experience and individual understanding of the world is based on these concepts.

The Actuality of Impulses, Perceptions, Manipulations and Solutions in Social Interactions among Diverse Religious Groups

This research aims to understand residents' efforts to live their daily lives and establish social relationships with individuals of different religious beliefs, as well as to explore the formation of individual concepts and thoughts in interacting with their environment. In this context, differences in religion or belief can create social interactions that are associative or dissociative in nature. The authors will answer related questions, patterns of social interaction, impulses, perceptions, manipulation of individuals in social interactions, and the resolution of final actions regarding religious differences in the Sirnagalih sub-district, Indihiang, Tasikmalaya City. This research uses qualitative research with field methods and uses a sociology of religion approach. The results of the research show that social interaction between religious communities in the Sirnagalih sub-district, Indihiang sub-district, Tasikmalaya City occurs in an associative (unification) pattern where mutually beneficial interactions occur between individuals and each other between Muslims, Protestants and Catholics. The social processes that occur in the daily lives of Muslims, Protestants and Catholics, prioritize aspects of togetherness and harmony based on common or shared interests. The emergence of a slight dispute in the process of social interaction among citizens can be resolved immediately by involving a third party, namely the local government, by prioritizing forms of interaction in accommodation, namely mediation, compromise and tolerance.