Personal Understanding Research Articles

Virtual Reality-Based Education Program for Managing Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia: Development and Feasibility Test.

This study aims to develop a virtual reality-based education program for managing behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia for family carers of persons living with dementia and investigate the feasibility for users. The program was developed through literature review, interviews with family carers, surveys, and expert content validity assessment. User feasibility was evaluated quantitatively through a questionnaire on usefulness, ease of use, and satisfaction, and qualitatively through participant interviews. The program was produced in two parts, Type 1 and Type 2, consisting of three and six episodes, respectively. Participants showed a high level of satisfaction with overall program scores of 4.28 ± 0.66 and 4.34 ± 0.41 for the two evaluations. Participants also expressed that both programs were helpful, Type 1 for achieving changes in attitude associated with more understanding of persons living with dementia and Type 2 for acquiring coping methods through communication training. Use of the virtual reality device was not inconvenient and was identified as helpful due to the high immersion experience. Results of this study confirmed that family carers had no resistance to education using new technologies such as virtual reality devices and that virtual reality-based education could be effective for training family carers.

FEATURES, ATTRIBUTES AND CRITERIA OF DEMOCRATIC POLITICAL REGIMES (COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS)

In the context of the continual and sustainable development of social order and civil society, the comprehension of the features, signs, and criteria of a democratic political regime is transforming and necessitates reconsideration, rendering this work pertinent. The objective of this article is to delineate the substance of the array of features and characteristics inherent to a democratic political regime, contrasting them with those of an authoritarian and totalitarian political regime. Additionally, it aims to elucidate the criterion by which distinctions between various types of political regimes can be made. The present publication employs analytical, synthetic, scientific generalization, theoretical comparison, and formal logical methods. The article explicates the contentious nature of the concept of "political regime" and presents diverse scientific approaches to its comprehension. It posits that the criterion for categorizing political regimes into democratic, authoritarian, and totalitarian forms hinges on "the peculiarities of interaction between civil society and the State, the degree of permeation of private life of citizens, and various spheres of the social reality of State power." The author provides a comparative analysis not only of democratic political regimes but also of authoritarian and totalitarian ones. The author conducts a detailed examination of the content associated with political science categories such as "features," "signs," and "criteria" of a political regime. Furthermore, the author introduces a personalized understanding of these concepts and offers insights into the interrelations among the terms under consideration. The article delineates an approach wherein the fundamental classification of political regimes is proposed to be nuanced. According to the author, political regimes ought to be categorized into democratic and non-democratic, with the latter further subcategorized into authoritarian and totalitarian. The author delineates the conventional features of a democratic political regime from the perspective of political science and expounds upon additional features which, in the author's estimation, might signify the presence of a democratic political regime in a given state. The assertion is made that a direct correlation between the form of government and the political regime in the state does not exist, and illustrative examples supporting this perspective are provided.

Monitoring Perkembangan Program Bank Sampah Menggunakan Tableau Public di RW 05 Kelurahan Cipinang Besar Selatan

This community service focuses on managing the Waste Bank in RW 05, Cipinang Besar Selatan Subdistrict with the aim of overcoming the lack of public interest in the Waste Bank program. Through a mentoring approach using Tableau Public, this activity aims to increase public understanding of the program. By using qualitative analysis, the results of the waste movement dashboard visualization are expected to provide an understanding of the influence of the Waste Bank on increasing waste volume. The research results show that data visualization using Tableau Desktop successfully achieved service objectives, providing significant insight into the effectiveness and development potential of the Waste Bank program. Features such as Total Waste per Month, Top Customer Rank, Top District, Top Types of Waste, and RT Participation provide an in-depth understanding of program dynamics. Data visualization has succeeded in increasing public interest, effectively reducing environmental pollution, and providing transparency of contributions, positive comparisons, personal understanding of environmental impacts, and motivation through growth and achievement. Therefore, the use of Tableau data visualization in the Waste Bank program is not only a data management tool, but also a driver of active participation and public awareness of the importance of protecting the environment. The Waste Bank program supported by data visualization has great potential to achieve sustainability goals and reduce negative impacts on the environment.

Multidimensional perception of the concept “school excellence”

This research aims to conceptualize and define teachers’ perception of school excellence (TPSE) and investigate the relationship between personal background, school role, organizational factors, and TPSE. The scale for TPSE was developed especially for this study. Elementary school teachers (N = 197) participated during the 2018–2019 academic year. Data were analyzed using two quantitative approaches: The facet theory approach was selected for its ability to conceptualize phenomena, and the Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) approach. The variables in the SSA map in the radial configuration form three concentric circles of conditional perceptions: personal understanding of excellence, the perception of excellence reflected by their surrounding society, and the perception of the concept in the Western world. The school excellence components were deployed in an angular form showing three elements: leadership and management, students’ achievement-related excellence, and pedagogical excellence. The measure of fit coefficients indicated good results: RMSEA = 0.00, TLI = 1.00, CFI = 1.00, NFI = 0.88, df = 28, χ2 = 27.95, p = 0.47. The implications of the study findings can be helpful for schools that wish to examine their excellence rankings to improve performance and maintain a constant level of school excellence.

The Influence of Financial Literacy on Financial Management in Small & Medium Enterprises (Case Study on Coffee Shop Management in Bandung City Period 2020 – 2021)

Introduction/Main Objectives: This study aims to determine how the development of financial literacy and management as well as to determine the effect of financial literacy on basic financial knowledge, savings and credit, investment and insurance on financial management at SMEs in the form of Coffee Shop in Bandung City. Background Problems: Financial literacy is a person's understanding or ability to measure financial concepts and has the ability to manage finances well. Financial literacy is very necessary for SMEs in managing their business finances. Research Methods: The method used is descriptive and verification analysis method with a quantitative approach. The technique of determining the sample using Nonprobability Sampling. Finding/Results: The results of the study found that literacy about basic financial knowledge has a significant effect on SME’s financial management, literacy about savings and credit has a significant effect on SME’s financial management, literacy about Investment has a significant effect on SME’s financial management and literacy about insurance also has a significant effect on SME’s financial management. Conclusion: The more literate on financial knowledge, savings and credit, investment and insurance, the more SME’s financial management increase.

Moving towards a personalised understanding of the nutritional impact of self-expanding metallic stents (SEMS) in gastro-oesophageal cancer: A retrospective case note review of a tertiary referral oncology centre.

301 Background: Dysphagia is a common life-impacting complication for patients with gastro-oesophageal (O-G) cancer. Options to alleviate dysphagia include insertion of SEMS or percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG). SEMS improve quality of life by enabling a person to eat a varied diet, but are associated with complications including pain and need for reintervention. Although studies have shown SEMS improve dysphagia, consequent longitudinal impact on nutritional status has not been evaluated. There is a need to better characterise risks and benefits of SEMS to allow a personalised approach to both insertion and follow-up. Methods: We identified patients with a confirmed diagnosis of O-G cancer, who underwent SEMS insertion at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in 2021 and 2022. Data was retrospectively collected about patient and stent characteristics, and patient outcomes to quantify benefits and risks of SEMS. Results: 112 patients had 127 SEMS inserted at The Christie. Patients’ International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative (IDDSI) score significantly improved after SEMS insertion (N=120); prior to SEMS 62% were only managing liquids and purees (IDDSI 3 and 4) and 24% were not able to eat enterally. Post SEMS, 76% tolerated textured foods (IDDSI 5 and above) and only 21.5% were limited to liquids/purees. We observed a significant reduction in the rate of weight loss (% body weight/10 days) following SEMS insertion (-0.010 ± 0.009 vs. -0.001 ± 0.010, P < 0.001). 12% of patients experienced grade 3 SEMS-related toxicity or stent failure within 30 days, and 20% developed significant pain within 24 hours of SEMS insertion. Conclusions: SEMS provide meaningful nutritional benefit in the majority of patients with O-G cancer, as weight loss is significantly slowed following insertion. However, we identified two groups of patients who did not benefit from SEMS; those who continued to lose weight and those who had stent failure. We did not find predictive factors for stent failure from multivariate analysis of baseline demographics or stent characteristics. Therefore, more detailed analysis of tumour factors, imaging findings and SEMS location from a larger cohort of patients may be required to identify patients who are unlikely to benefit from SEMS, and alternative interventions such as PEG feeding could be considered.

Becoming/being a care worker: personality in a language training for migrant job seekers in Flanders

Abstract In this article I will describe how personality was mobilized during a Dutch language course that prepared job seekers for the care sector. I show how more than language competences, what was valued was who someone was as a person. While the emphasis on job seekers’ personality in the context of a language course that prepared for an education and subsequent job in the care sector, is, on the one hand, in line with the general attention for the worker as a person and more specifically for what is generally referred to as soft skills, I show that the understanding of personality in the course also differs from how soft skills is generally understood: personality was seen as a stable essence, where potential for improvement was deemed to be limited. This view on personality can be associated with the history of care work and the morality attached to it, for which selection of workers is deemed necessary. Moreover, as I have shown, while personality is thought of as an abstract term that can be applied to categorize individuals separately from the specific context or from cultural or political influences, the type of personality that was required for a care worker was coded as feminine and associated with certain types of people along racialized lines. As such, there is an unequal distribution among which people are deemed suitable for care work. By demonstrating the effects of this specific understanding of personality, I also argue that it is important for language scholars to pay attention to such notions themselves, rather than to focus merely on their communication.

Personality as technology of self: MBTI and English language learning in South Korea

Abstract This paper considers how a particular understanding of personality, as manifest in the way discourses about personality types are circulated and employed, may serve as a foundation for rationalizing the logic of human capital and its concomitant inequalities. Focusing on the recent popularity of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) in South Korea and the way it is adopted in online content offering advice on English language learning, this paper suggests that a conceptualization of personality as simultaneously enduring and inherent, on the one hand, and standardized and technologized, on the other, allows personality testing and personality type to serve as moral technologies of self that conceal the contradictions underlying the promotion of English language learning as a key to developing one’s human capital in neoliberal Korean society.

Beyond body and mind: psychology and the unity of the human person in Aquinas

Abstract Human persons are at once simple and complex: simple, because they possess a unified and indivisible essence in the form of the soul; and, complex, since this immaterial soul is conjoined to a material body, accounting for the human whole. This paper highlights the nature of this union and explores the psychology of the human person based on Thomistic philosophical tradition. Our thesis is that Aquinas’s hylomorphism, which counters in advance the claims of Descartes on human identity, offers a comprehensive understanding of the human person and provides a robust foundation that understands the human person as transcending the limitations of body and mind, and this has implications for philosophical, psychological and scientific enquiries.

Scientific and Pedagogical Staff and Formation of Professional Competencies for Higher Education Applicants in Pharmaceutical Profile

The concept of professional competence stands as the paramount criterion in the education and training of future experts. It is this competence that fundamentally determines the effectiveness and success of their professional endeavors. Professional competence is not a static or simple attribute; rather, it is an integrated, multifaceted, and dynamic construct. This construct encompasses a broad spectrum of elements, including but not limited to, a deep well of knowledge, a diverse set of abilities, and a wide range of skills. However, the scope of professional competence extends beyond these technical aspects. It also includes personal capabilities, such as emotional intelligence and adaptability, as well as indicators of general culture, which reflect a person's broad educational background and understanding of the world. At the core of professional competence lies the concept of professional suitability. This term refers to a combination of various mental and psychophysiological traits that a person possesses. These traits are crucial as they underpin the individual's ability to perform their professional duties effectively. In addition to these innate qualities, professional suitability also involves communication skills and specific competencies necessary for excelling in one's professional life. A significant direction for future research is the development of a comprehensive model that outlines the process of forming and enhancing the professional competence of pharmacists. This research could provide valuable insights into how educational programs can be structured to better prepare students for their future careers. Furthermore, the role of research and teaching staff in shaping the professional competencies of higher education applicants is an area of great importance. These educators play a pivotal role in guiding and nurturing the next generation of professionals, ensuring they are well-equipped with the necessary knowledge, skills, and attitudes to succeed in their respective fields. This comprehensive approach to understanding and developing professional competence is crucial for the advancement of various professions and the effective functioning of health care society.

Rewriting history: a conversation between Parham Taghioff and Hamidreza Karami

ABSTRACT This illustrated conversation between Parham Taghioff and Hamidreza Karami focuses on Taghioff’s profound engagement with history and the philosophy of history within his photographic projects. The dialogue explores how Taghioff’s work reveals the common tendency for individuals to unwittingly cast themselves as characters in the historical drama without a conscious understanding of their roles. Key projects, such as the ‘Hands On/Hands Off’ (2014) and the ‘Asymmetrical Authority’ series (2018), are discussed, emphasising the artist’s reliance on personal historical understanding and historical memory. Taghioff highlights the dynamic nature of historical comprehension, stressing that continual emergence of new facts, documents and narratives prevents a definitive understanding of the past. The conversation also touches on Taghioff’s perspective as a contemporary artist in Iran, highlighting the need to examine history to grasp one’s contemporary position. The conversation concludes with insights into Taghioff’s artistic methodology, involving the analysis and use of archival materials, texts and images to reconstruct and critically examine various historical perspectives.

Engineers on responsibility: feminist approaches to who’s responsible for ethical AI

Responsibility has become a central concept in AI ethics; however, little research has been conducted into practitioners’ personal understandings of responsibility in the context of AI, including how responsibility should be defined and who is responsible when something goes wrong. In this article, we present findings from a 2020–2021 data set of interviews with AI practitioners and tech workers at a single multinational technology company and interpret them through the lens of feminist political thought. We reimagine responsibility in the context of AI development and deployment as the product of work cultures that enable tech workers to be responsive and answerable for their products over the long and short term. From our interviews, we identify three key pain points in understanding the distribution of responsibility between actors and developing responsible design and deployment practices: (1) unstable business ecosystems and AI lifecycles, which require an approach to responsibility that accounts for the dynamic nature of these systems; (2) the issue of incentivizing engineers to take responsibility for the mundane maintenance practices essential to the functioning of AI systems and (3) the need to overcome individual and structural barriers to taking ownership over AI products and their effects. From these findings, we make three recommendations based on feminist theory: (1) organisations should move from a static model of responsibility to a dynamic and ethically motivated response-ability; (2) companies need to revalue care and maintenance practices; and (3) firms must move away from individualistic ideas of responsibility towards fostering wider cultures of responsibility.

Physiognomy and Visual Judgment in Medieval and Early Modern Europe

From the late Middle Ages through the eighteenth century, the science of physiognomy played a central role in the intellectual life of what we might call “the long Renaissance.” Indeed, it did much to shape both the portrayal and the understanding of personality in the visual and literary arts of the period. But nowhere was its influence greater than in the practice of criminal law. This special issue explores the varied ways that jurists and judges drew on theories—ancient and modern—of how to read the human body, the face especially, in order to help determine whether or not a suspect was guilty or innocent. The articles offer insights into the various ways in which Renaissance thinkers not only drew on ancient and medieval sources for their understanding of human psychology but also continued to elaborate new theories in order to develop what they viewed as a more scientific jurisprudence.

Pengaruh Literasi Keuangan Dan Inklusi Keuangan Terhadap Pengelolaan Keuangan UMKM Di Kecamatan Kisaran Barat Kabupaten Asahan

Financial Literacy is a person's understanding or ability to measure financial concepts and have the ability to manage finances well. Financial literacy is very important for MSMEs in managing their business finances. Financial inclusion is the availability of access to various institutions, products and financial services according to the needs and capabilities of the community in order to improve people's welfare. This study aims to examine and analyze the effect of financial literacy and financial inclusion on MSME financial management in Kisaran Barat District. This type of research is quantitative research. The total population in this study was 390 MSME actors and the sample in this study were 80 MSME actors in Kisaran Barat District. Data collection techniques in this study were interviews and questionnaires. The data analysis method uses multiple linear regression analysis. The research results show that financial literacy and financial inclusion partially and simultaneously influence financial management.

LA LECTURA EXTENSIVA COMO FORMA DE ENSEÑAR ESPAÑOL

At present, the promotion of reading the literary text is aimed at forming the reading habit in students and integrating them in the different socio-cultural contexts where they interact; motivate them to experience reading activity from pleasure, to develop reading behavior in them. Owning this type of communicative activity, a person understands everything he reads, and responds adequately to what he has read, converting his thoughts in response. Reading any text in a foreign language and answering questions about the text or expressing their opinion about the read, the student learns the skills of monologue speech. In this article, the author considers the importance of extensive reading in the study and teaching of Spanish as a Foreign Language or any other foreign language, presents approaches to teaching reading that can be used in reading and parsing any text, introduces activities to be used in an extensive reading program, and analyzes the reading practices in the students of the 2nd year of E/LE at the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. The benefits of extensive reading include gains in reading and writing competence, growth of vocabulary, and increases in self-respect and motivation of students. Reading books can be a good way to acquire new vocabulary, see grammar in action and develop understanding of a language. It is important that the books are interesting to students and at a level appropriate to their reading ability.

Involvement of minors in the criminal process: procedural regulation according to the legislation of the Republic of Kosovo

This study explores the significance of juvenile personality in criminal proceedings within Kosovo’s legal framework, emphasising juveniles' unique psychological, social and biological development stages and their impact on criminal behaviour. Despite the global interest in juvenile justice, there is a notable gap in literature specific to Kosovo, particularly concerning the consideration of personality traits and cognitive maturity in legal processes. Through an analysis of the Code of Juvenile Justice and the Code of Criminal Procedure, along with case studies and interviews with police, prosecutors, judges and psychologists, the research addresses this gap. Key findings highlight that while Kosovo’s legal framework provides robust protections for juveniles, practical challenges include delayed identification, insufficient privacy enforcement and resource constraints. The study underscores the importance of psychologist involvement during interrogations and the need for age-appropriate communication. Additionally, it points out the limited number of specialised personnel and rehabilitation institutions as major obstacles. The research advocates for enhanced training, increased resources and a review of current sanctions to ensure the juvenile justice system prioritises rehabilitation over punishment. This study aims to improve the understanding of juvenile personality in legal proceedings, promoting fair and just treatment for young offenders. Keywords: Criminal Process; Juvenile Personality; Kosovo Juvenile Justice.

Aspiring to Disability Consciousness in Health Professions Training.

Lack of disability-competent health care contributes to inequitable health outcomes for the largest minoritized population in the world: persons with disabilities. Health care professionals hold implicit and explicit bias against disabled people and report receiving inadequate disability training. While disability competence establishes a baseline standard of care, health professional educators must prepare a disability conscious workforce by challenging ableist assumptions and promoting holistic understanding of persons with disabilities. Future clinicians must recognize disability as an aspect of diversity, express respect for disabled patients, and demonstrate flexibility about how to care for disabled patients' needs. These skills are currently undervalued in medical training, specifically. This article describes how integrating disability consciousness into health professions training can improve health equity for patients with disabilities.

The political aspect of the ‘freedom’ concept in Pavlo Vyshebaba’s work

The object of the research in this article is the poetic texts of the contemporary Ukrainian military poet Pavlo Vyshebaba. The purpose of the article is to interpret the manifestation of the concept of freedom in the work of this poet. The author focuses on the political aspect of the concept of freedom, so he primarily analyzes Pavlo Vyshebaba’s work from this perspective. In the course of the study, the author also analyzes the works of military poets Kateryna “Bird” Polishchuk and Borys Humeniuk. This is done to compare the manifestations of the concept of freedom by these authors and to better understand the works of Pavlo Vyshebaba. In order to scientifically substantiate the political aspect of freedom, this article draws on the philosophical work of Dmytro Dontsov, in particular the ideas of nationalism and its fundamental principles. In particular, to clarify the terminology, the article uses Dmytro Dontsov’s “vlasnovladnist”. To achieve the purpose of the article, contextual analysis and biographical methods were used. The relevance of the article is due to the social need to realize the value of freedom in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian war. The novelty of the study is determined by the chosen aspect of the consideration of the lyrics of a contemporary poet, the scientific reception of whose work is generally limited. According to the results of the study, Pavlo Vyshebaba regards the concept of freedom in the political plane. It has been found that the concept of freedom in his work encompasses personal responsibility, a higher purpose, preservation and development of cultural and historical heritage. Freedom for Pavlo Vyshebaba is “freedom from” and “freedom for”. In political terms, the last is the establishment of statehood, and the first is freedom from invaders. Pavlo Vyshebaba also has a personal understanding of freedom as an opportunity for creativity. Further prospects for the study are related to the analysis of a representative sample of contemporary military poets and poets who write about war to draw more thorough conclusions about the ideas of political freedom in Ukrainian culture as a fundamental factor in the formation of the nation.

Living with my diabetes - introducing eHealth into daily practices of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Diabetes patients can draw on an increasing number of eHealth apps to support them in the self-management of their disease. While studies so far have focused on patients with type 1 diabetes, we explored how patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) integrate eHealth apps into their practices aimed at managing and coping with the disease, which aspects were considered particularly valuable and which challenges users encountered. Semi-structured interviews and focus group sessions were conducted to explore how patients cope with T2DM in their daily lives and their attitude towards eHealth. In a further step, four eHealth apps were tested by patients and their expectations and experiences studied by way of qualitative interviews and focus groups. The analysis showed that the study participants valued in particular the possibility to use eHealth apps to sense and gain a better understanding of their own body, to learn about specific responses of their body to nutrition and physical activity, and to support changes in daily routines and lifestyle. Key challenges encountered related to difficulties in interpreting the data, matching the data to other bodily sensations, getting overly occupied with the disease and difficulties in integrating the apps into personal, family, and care practices. Under certain conditions, eHealth can play an important role for patients in developing a nuanced, personal understanding of their body and coping with T2DM. A prerequisite is that eHealth needs to be fitted into the specific practices of users, and patients desire a strong role by their care professionals in providing support in interpretation of data.

Women’s voices for the earth: Communication strategies of women candidates on environmental issues in the 2024 election

Environmental issues have become a major focus in political agendas, including the selection of legislative candidates. This research aims to understand the communication strategies of women legislative candidates in shaping political narratives related to environmental issues in Aceh ahead of the 2024 legislative elections. This includes analyzing the communication approaches used, such as through mass media, social media platforms, and direct meetings with voters. Methods: This study used a qualitative approach. Data were collected through interviews, observations, and content analysis of messages delivered by women legislative candidates through various communication channels. Results showed that women legislative candidates successfully used persuasive language to relate environmental issues to voters’ daily lives. Communication strategies included active participation in mass media, use of social media platforms, and direct meetings with voters. The narratives developed strengthened voters’ perceptions of the impact of environmental issues in the local context. This research shows that women in Aceh politics play an important role in shaping political messages related to the environment. Skillful communication strategies helped strengthen the relationship between women legislative candidates and voters, while the narratives created a deeper and more personal understanding of environmental issues.