Practical Reasons Research Articles

Parenting Styles and Teachers' Teaching Styles impact on Students' Values Development

This study examines the effect of parenting and teaching styles on students' values development within Arab society in Israel. It aimed to determine: 1) the relationship between parenting style and students’ values development from teachers’ perspectives; 2) how teaching methods using English as a Second Language (ESL) strategies affect students' values development; and 3) demographic differences (sex, role, education, types of schools) among teachers in values development and parenting styles.The sample includes 280 teachers (112 male; 168 female) from Arab high schools' students in northern Israel and 200 parents (104 male; 96 female) who participated in the questionnaire. Findings indicate that authoritative parenting, which balances warmth and control, is most effective in fostering positive values, while authoritarian and permissive styles may lead to poorer outcomes in self-esteem, motivation, and behavior. Discussion-oriented and student-centered teaching approaches promote critical thinking, empathy, and ethical reasoning. No significant differences were found in the impact of teaching and parenting styles on values development based on gender, age, or educational level of teachers, except for differences in direct and delegating teaching styles.The study concludes that parenting and teaching styles are interdependent. Supportive parenting enhances the effectiveness of constructive teaching methods, and teachers' approaches can reinforce values instilled by parents. Recommendations for Arab society include promoting authoritative parenting through educational programs, encouraging discussion-based and student-centered teaching methods via teacher training and curriculum reforms, fostering school and community collaboration, addressing cultural sensitivities, and providing teachers with necessary resources and professional development opportunities.

Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: Teaching, Learning, and Assessing in the Information and Artificial Intelligence Era

This study reviews existing taxonomies and proposes a new educational taxonomy that fulfills the educational needs of the current era, the information and Artificial Intelligence (AI) era. The review of previous educational taxonomies revealed that although they provide insights into establishing educational objectives and learning outcomes, they still need to address recent changes and challenges in learning processes. To (1) integrate the new realities into the landscape of learning (i.e., Education for sustainable development (ESD), soft skills development, and AI), (2) maintain the classroom as the formal venue for learning, and (3) strengthen the position and role of instructors as facilitators, a new six-category two-fold hierarchy-based taxonomy is proposed (AlAfnan Taxonomy): (1) Knowledge and Comprehension, (2) Synthesis and Evaluation, (3) Ethical and Moral Reasoning, (4) Application and Strategic Thinking, (5) Creativity and Innovation, and (6) Lifelong Learning and Adaptability. The taxonomy begins with foundational levels of ‘Knowledge and Comprehension’ stressing the importance of understanding fundamental realities and concepts within specific fields. Then, it addresses the importance of ‘Synthesis and Evaluation’ as essential and crucial skills for navigating an information-rich world. ‘Ethical and Moral Reasoning’ highlights the significance of ethical decision-making, moral frameworks, and culture-based diversity. Further, the taxonomy introduces ‘Application and Strategic Thinking’, emphasizing the practical use of knowledge in real-world scenarios and the ability to devise long-term plans. ‘Creativity and Innovation’ are essential drivers of progress in an era characterized by rapid technological advancements encouraging learners to explore novel solutions and approaches. Lastly, ‘Lifelong Learning and Adaptability’ underscores the necessity of continuous learning and flexibility in response to evolving circumstances, ensuring students and graduates remain competitive and relevant throughout their lives. By nurturing a multifaceted skill set encompassing critical thinking, ethical awareness, practical application, creativity, and adaptability, this taxonomy aims to equip learners with the necessary tools to excel in a dynamic and complex world, making it indispensable for modern education.

Predicting Tumor Volume Doubling Time and Progression-Free Survival in Untreated Patients from Patient-Derived-Xenograft (PDX) Models: A Translational Model-Based Approach

Tumor volume doubling time (TVDT) has been shown to be a potential surrogate marker of biological tumor activity. However, its availability in clinics is strongly limited due to ethical and practical reasons, as its assessment requires at least two subsequent tumor volume measurements in untreated patients. Here, a translational modeling framework to predict TVDT distributions in untreated cancer patient populations from tumor growth data in patient-derived xenograft (PDX) mice is proposed. Eleven solid cancer types were considered. For each of them, a set of tumor growth studies in PDX mice was selected and analyzed through a mathematical model to characterize the distribution of the exponential tumor growth rate in mice. Then, assuming an exponential growth of the tumor mass in humans, the growth rates were scaled from PDX mice to humans through an allometric scaling approach and used to predict TVDTs in untreated patients. A very good agreement was found between model predicted and clinically observed TVDTs, with 91% of the predicted TVDT medians fell within 1.5-fold of observations. Further, exploiting the intrinsic relationship between tumor growth dynamics and progression free survival (PFS), the exponential growth rates in humans were used to generate the expected PFS curves in absence of anticancer treatment. Predicted curves were extremely close to published PFS data from studies involving patient cohorts treated with supportive care or low effective therapies. The proposed approach shows promise as a potential tool to increase knowledge about TVDT in humans without the need of directly measuring tumor dimensions in untreated patients, and to predict PFS curves in untreated patients, that could fill the absence of placebo-controlled arms against which to compare treaded arms during clinical trials. However, further validation and refinement are needed to fully assess its effectiveness in this regard.

The Effect of Moral Reasoning, Retaliation and Negative Emotions on Whistleblowing of Internal Auditors

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of moral reasoning, retaliation and negative emotions (guilt and shame) on the tendency of internal auditors to conduct whistleblowing. This study uses a survey method, with questionnaires distributed to 56 internal auditors working at universities in Yogyakarta. Participants were asked to rate the questionnaire with a five-point Likert scale. All the questionnaires collected were analysed using multiple regression. The results of this study prove empirically that moral reasoning and guilt have a significantly positive influence on the tendency of internal auditors to conduct whistleblowing. Meanwhile, retaliation has a significantly negative effect on the tendency of internal auditors to conduct whistleblowing, but shame does not have a significant effect on the tendency of internal auditors to conduct whistleblowing. This research is expected to provide a basis for organisations to consider establishing whistleblowing systems for fraud and wrongdoing prevention.

Non-therapeutic hysterectomy in Mexican young females with intellectual disability: a problematized reality

Non-therapeutic hysterectomy in girls and adolescents with intellectual disability (ID) is an acceptable practice, even when there is a lack of prescriptive ethical reason. To determine the magnitude of the practice of hysterectomy in girls and adolescents with ID, and explore the emic factors associated with this procedure. Multicenter, intersectoral study with a mixed methods design. The quantitative results showed that 50 of 234 reported hysterectomies corresponded to females with ID. Average age at the time of surgery was 15 ± 2.9 years. Prophylactic abdominal hysterectomy was the most common procedure, and the justifications for it were "fertility control", "menstrual hygiene management", and "risk of sexual abuse". A qualitative analysis of 15 focus groups revealed that parents' main concern was how to manage their daughters' index disease and reproductive health; they perceived menstruation positively; they expressed their fear of dying and leaving them without support, and emphasized fertility control; none of them approved hysterectomy. The bodies that define health policies need to create a new philosophy that avoids the reductionist approach of current biomedical model, which separates (in the health-disease process) our interdependence with other humans.

Perceptions of Black faculty encounters with racism through a collaborative autoethnographical lens: CRT and moral reasoning perspectives

Foreign-born scholars as allies from non-advantaged minoritized groups have historically provided critical insights about the racism that is directed at Black people in a racially driven U.S. society. The current collaborative autoethnography is based on the intersecting paths of three university faculty, a Black female scholar and two international J-1 scholars, who documented through personal narratives the racism that is directed at Black faculty at PWIs, drawing from critical race and moral reasoning interpretative frameworks. Building on previous research, the narratives shed light on how anti-Black racism persists at PWIs in the form of micro-aggressions and race-based hostility and that humanizing reparation efforts are warranted but may not be sufficient to ensure comprehensive change. Future research must explore the potential impact of group action initiatives among BIPOC and other minoritized faculty groups (national, international) to promote faculty protections in general while challenging anti-Black racism specifically.

Mission in polarized public social media interaction: Speaking out against injustice, standing up for truth, or loving your neighbor?

This study examines polarized US-based public social media interaction in which at least some participants support positions on public policy, politics, or social ethics using scripture, theological reasoning, spiritual authority, or ethical reasoning within a broadly Christian framework. Specifically, it considers social media interaction among commenters on public posts, in which some of the participants manifest a mission of speaking out against injustice, standing up for truth, and/or loving their online neighbors. It finds that speaking out against injustice often includes an argument about the nature of truth, but that standing up for truth can be done on its own. It also finds no incidences of loving one’s neighbor in ways that the neighbor would recognize as love, in interactions studied to date. It concludes that humility and charity are called for, because of disagreements about both justice and truth. Note that this article and the uploaded research data include social media interactions that are homophobic and transphobic, as well as interactions that may hurt or offend conservative believers.

Politics and dinner tables do mix! exploring the role of consumers’ political orientation in plant-based food promotion at restaurants

Plant-based food refers to a diet focused on consuming primarily plant-derived ingredients for health, environmental, and ethical reasons. Since there is a growing recognition regarding the significant correlation between sustainable consumption and consumers' political inclinations, this study aimed to identify effective ways to promote plant-based food in a restaurant setting by analyzing the relative persuasiveness of advertisements in terms of three variables: consumer political orientation (liberal vs. conservative), regulatory focus (promotion vs. prevention), and message type (health vs. taste). This study confirms that there is a significant two-way effect between political orientation and regulatory focus on consumers’ attitude and purchase intentions toward plant-based food. Additionally, this two-way effect between political orientation and regulatory focus varies depending on the type of message. The mediating role of goal relevance was confirmed as well. The study provides implications for effective marketing communication in the context of plant-based food promotion in the foodservice industry.

Measuring urofecal glucocorticoid metabolites in broiler chicken: a noninvasive tool for assessing stress as a marker of welfare

The poultry industry is an important and still growing sector in many parts of the world. For ethical reasons and due to increased consumer awareness for animal welfare in production animals, it is of importance to establish a reliable and objective test system for monitoring and improving health and welfare. During the rearing process, broiler chickens are exposed to numerous potential stressors and management interventions (e.g. weighing of individual animals, preslaughter fasting and capture processes), but assessing the level of stress perceived by the animals entirely through behavioral observations can be challenging. Monitoring stress-related physiological markers, such as glucocorticoids, can be an accurate and presumably more objective addition. To avoid additional stressors induced by blood collection, a noninvasive approach using urofecal samples is advisable. However, a thorough validation is needed to establish a suitable test system for measuring stress hormone levels, including potential effects of the time of day of collection or the time that has elapsed since defecation. Therefore, the aim of this study was to test the stability of urofecal glucocorticoid metabolites (ufGCM) postdefecation, to determine time of day effects on ufGCM levels, and to investigate the effect of standard management procedures on ufGCM concentrations in broiler chickens. Our results revealed a time window of 4 h in which fecal samples from broilers can be collected without major alterations to the ufGCM concentrations. In this regard, a "fecal box" proved useful for collecting uncontaminated fresh samples. The time of day of sample collection did not influence ufGCM concentrations significantly. Moreover, the used assay proved to be sensitive enough to detect even small and short-lasting activations of the HPA axis induced by handling, confinement, and fasting. Thus, the system used can be a powerful and easy to apply tool in a chicken production setup for assessing stress as a marker of welfare in commercially housed broiler chickens, which in the long-term can also improve production, particularly with regard to process quality.

Effectiveness of Resistance Training Program on Body Composition in Adults Following Vegan Diet versus Omnivorous Diet; Developed in Mobile Health Modality.

The vegan diet (VEGD) has gained popularity in recent years for ecological and ethical reasons, as well as for its health benefits. In addition to the type of diet, the resistance training program (RTP) plays a fundamental role as one of the main natural anabolic stimuli to increase musculoskeletal mass and reduce fat mass. The study was a 16-week non-randomized controlled clinical trial consisting of three RTP sessions per week. The sample included 70 Chilean individuals, aged between 18 and 59 years, who had been following a VEGD or omnivorous diet (OMND) for the past 6 months. Four groups were established: Vegan Diet Resistance Training Program (VEGD-RTP), Vegan Diet Control (VEGD-C), Omnivorous Diet Resistance Training Program (OMND-RTP), and Omnivorous Diet Control (OMND-C). The sample consisted of 47 women and 23 men, with a mean age of 30.1 (±8.6) years. A reduction of 1.20% in the percentage of fat mass (%FM) was observed in the VEGD-RTP group (r = 0.554, p = 0.016), as well as a reduction of 0.70 kg in kilograms of fat mass (KFM) (r = 0.480, p = 0.036). The OMND-RTP group decreased %FM by 0.90% (r = 0.210, p = 0.432) and KFM by 0.50 kg (r = 0.109, p = 0.683). RTP combined with VEGD or OMND significantly reduced the percentage of fat mass, although its effect was more significant in the VEGD-RTP participants.

An Arrested Dialectic: The National Past and (Post-)Dissident Catholic Moral Reasoning in Slovakia

During the 1980s, Catholic dissidents in Slovakia constructed divergent modes of moral reasoning. While national democratic Catholic dissidents looked to universal Catholic morality, nationalist Catholic dissidents anchored their moral reasoning in nationalized ethics. Their respective modes of moral reasoning were crucially formed in the making of national Catholic memory. If both appreciated Slovak sovereignty, the former prioritized democracy, human rights, and dialogue across religious and ethnic divides, the latter national independence over democracy. This in turn determined how and when they pursued Slovak cultural and political sovereignty across the boundary of 1989.

Assessing and accounting for measurement in intensive longitudinal studies: current practices, considerations, and avenues for improvement.

Intensive longitudinal studies, in which participants complete questionnaires multiple times a day over an extended period, are increasingly popular in the social sciences in general and quality-of-life research in particular. The intensive longitudinal methods allow for studying the dynamics of constructs (e.g., how much patient-reported outcomes vary across time). These methods promise higher ecological validity and lower recall bias than traditional methods that question participants only once, since the high frequency means that participants complete questionnaires in their everyday lives and do not have to retrospectively report about a large time interval. However, to ensure the validity of the results obtained from analyzing the intensive longitudinal data (ILD), greater awareness and understanding of appropriate measurement practices are needed. We surveyed 42 researchers experienced with ILD regarding their measurement practices and reasons for suboptimal practices. Results showed that researchers typically do not use measures validated specifically for ILD. Participants assessing the psychometric properties and invariance of measures in their current studies was even less common, as was accounting for these properties when analyzing dynamics. This was mainly because participants did not have the necessary knowledge to conduct these assessments or were unaware of their importance for drawing valid inferences. Open science practices, in contrast, appear reasonably well ingrained in ILD studies. Measurement practices in ILD still need improvement in some key areas; we provide recommendations in order to create a solid foundation for measuring and analyzing psychological constructs.

The Psychosocial Aspects of Vegetarian Diets: A Cross-Sectional Study of the Motivations, Risks, and Limitations in Daily Life.

The popularity of vegetarian and vegan diets is linked to various motivations, such as health, ethics, ecology, and social and religious influence. India has the highest proportion of vegetarians and vegans. The practise of these diets is linked to moral and health reasons and environmental concerns. Vegetarianism may also be associated with eating disorders such as orthorexia (ON). The main aim of this study was to determine the psychosocial aspects of vegetarian diets. Understanding these aspects is crucial for identifying potential risks and developing effective interventions. This study investigated the reasons for following vegetarian diets, the duration of dietary adherence, the occurrence of feelings of restriction in selected situations, and the risk of orthorexia and other eating disorders. A questionnaire survey was conducted among 186 individuals (82 vegetarians and 104 traditional dieters) between October 2023 and April 2024. The survey was administered via a Computer-Assisted Web Interview (CAWI) using Google Forms, distributed through social media, forums, and private messages. The inclusion criteria for the study group included consent, an age over 18, and a vegetarian diet, excluding those with eating disorders or diseases requiring strict diet therapy. The control group criteria were similar, excluding vegetarians and those requiring special diets. Four unreliable questionnaires were excluded from the analysis. The survey consisted of four sections: metric data, the ORTO-15 questionnaire, the EAT-26 questionnaire, and the TFEQ-13 questionnaire. The main motivations for following vegetarian diets were ethical and environmental (86.9%) and health (32.1%) reasons. Over half of the vegetarians had been following a plant-based diet for over five years. Vegetarians were more likely to feel restricted in restaurants and when grocery shopping. The ORTO-15 results indicate a higher risk of orthorexia among vegetarians (48.8% vs. 29.4% in the control group; p = 0.00673). The EAT-26 questionnaire showed a higher, but not statistically significant, risk of eating disorders among vegetarians (23.8% vs. 14.7%; p = 0.11391). The TFEQ-13 showed no significant differences between groups (Subscale 1: food restriction, p = 0.77279; Subscale 2: lack of control in overeating, p = 0.91935; Subscale 3: eating under the influence of emotions, p = 0.16612). This study concluded that ethical and environmental considerations and a belief in health benefits mainly drive vegetarians. An analysis of BMI revealed no significant differences between groups. The ORTO-15 results suggest a higher risk of orthorexia among vegetarians. The EAT-26 indicated a higher, but not statistically significant, risk of eating disorders among vegetarians and vegans. The TFEQ-13 showed no significant differences in restrictive eating, lack of control in overeating, and emotional eating. Vegetarians were likelier to encounter dietary difficulties in restaurants and shopping but less likely to feel socially excluded.

Follicular Fluid Proteomic Analysis to Identify Predictive Markers of Normal Embryonic Development.

Ageing populations, mass "baby-free" policies and children born to mothers at the age at which they are biologically expected to become grandmothers are growing problems in most developed societies. Therefore, any opportunity to improve the quality of infertility treatments seems important for the survival of societies. The possibility of indirectly studying the quality of developing oocytes by examining their follicular fluids (hFFs) offers new opportunities for progress in our understanding the processes of final oocyte maturation and, consequently, for predicting the quality of the resulting embryos and personalising their culture. Using mass spectrometry, we studied follicular fluids collected individually during in vitro fertilisation and compared their composition with the quality of the resulting embryos. We analysed 110 follicular fluids from 50 oocyte donors, from which we obtained 44 high-quality, 39 medium-quality, and 27 low-quality embryos. We identified 2182 proteins by Sequential Window Acquisition of all Theoretical Mass Spectra (SWATH-MS) using a TripleTOF 5600+ hybrid mass spectrometer, of which 484 were suitable for quantification. We were able to identify several proteins whose concentrations varied between the follicular fluids of different oocytes from the same patient and between patients. Among them, the most important appear to be immunoglobulin heavy constant alpha 1 (IgA1hc) and dickkopf-related protein 3. The first one is found at higher concentrations in hFFs from which oocytes develop into poor-quality embryos, the other one exhibits the opposite pattern. None of these have, so far, had any specific links to fertility disorders. In light of these findings, these proteins should be considered a primary target for research aimed at developing a diagnostic tool for oocyte quality control and pre-fertilisation screening. This is particularly important in cases where the fertilisation of each egg is not an option for ethical or other reasons, or in countries where it is prohibited by law.

Nudges and Motivated Moral Reasoning: Algorithms, Humans, and Information Processing

Nudges and Motivated Moral Reasoning: Algorithms, Humans, and Information Processing

The ontological status of moral reasons

In Morality and Metaphysics, Larmore outlines a metaphysical conception of normative reasons in general, and moral reasons in particular, that he defines as “platonistic”. In accordance with this conception, all reasons for thought and action would belong to an ontologically objective domain, insofar as their mode of existence would be, in Searle’s words, independent of any perceiver or mental state. The main objective of the present paper is to criticize this conception. To this end, it will be argued, on the one hand, that Larmore’s conception is totally inadequate to deal with a specific kind of normative reasons, namely agent-relative reasons; and, on the other, that even if it recognizes the reflective stance as an inseparable aspect of morality, it tends to underestimate what this means ontologically speaking. As will become apparent in a clear Strawsonian vein, morality’s normative force would rest to a great extent on some fundamental attitudes and dispositions we cannot do without as human beings.

Mental health and humanitarian crisis: Moral stress in trauma therapy.

This articleoffers a narrative analysis of the contributing factors of moral distress (MD) and moral injury (MI) among mental health clinicians working amidst humanitarian crises. It discusses the impact of moral stress on therapeutic relationships in mental health trauma. The articleoriginated from the author's experience developing a peer-to-peer support program at a nongovernmental organization (NGO) and conducting peer-to-peer support for mental health clinicians and healthcare providers in Ukraine and Turkey. A significant amount of literature has documented the detrimental effects of MD and MI on mental health, job sustainability, and resilience of healthcare providers and first responders. The negative effects of MD and MI are particularly relevant in trauma counseling, where clinicians must draw upon the use of self to develop therapeutic relationships with their clients. This process demands a high level of moral reasoning and self-awareness, which can be severely tested under the morally challenging conditions of a humanitarian crisis. There is an imperative need to deepen our understanding and to swiftly address the factors that precipitate MD and MI in mental health clinicians working in crisis zones. By doing so, we aim to bolster their resilience and the enduring nature of their commitment to help and save others. This, in turn, will not only contribute to saving more lives but also enable those who are affected by trauma to flourish in the aftermath of their experiences.

Moral reasoning and support for punitive violence after crime

In contexts marked by high violence and widespread impunity, how do citizens articulate and justify their preferences about crime and punishment? What kind of moral logic and reasoning do they employ when discussing punishments? Does support for punitive punishment derive from moralistic and deontological concerns that perpetrators need to be punished because it is right and proper? Or do people support punitive punishments because they feel they are effective? To address this question, we document and analyze stated preferences for punishment in response to crime from 62 in-depth qualitative interviews with individuals affected by violence in the Mexican state of Michoacán. We conduct a quantitative analysis of how different forms of moral justifications are related to preferred punishments for specific crime events, and a qualitative content analysis to investigate possible mechanisms. We find that two types of moral reasoning are more likely to be used to justify punitive violence: (1) consequentialist reasoning which involves weighing the costs and benefits of an action; (2) and reasoning that dehumanizes accused criminals. Deontological justifications about the right or just action, while extremely common, are used fairly equally across arguments for and against punitive violence. Our study sheds light on the diverse moral frames employed to justify the endorsement of punitive violence.

The three generations of Dennis The Menace

ABSTRACT This article will examine how in-storyworld explanations of updates to the appearance of the long running British comics character Dennis The Menace was expanded upon by creators to significantly retrospectively alter the character’s history, developing an ingenious multi-generational explanation for historical changes to the character over time that echo similar explanations found in long-running American series. These ‘retcons’ are assessed by using a unified catalogue of character components to discern whether there is any evidence in the original texts to support the idea of there being different versions of the same character, before describing social and practical reasons for the results found.

Evaluation of an interactive education workshop on hospital pharmacists’ ethical reasoning: an observational study

BackgroundPharmacists are often faced with scenarios in practice that require application of ethical reasoning and decision-making skills. There is limited research on the ethical decision-making processes of hospital pharmacists. Pharmacists who are compassionate and put the interests of their patients first are thought to positively impact on patient care, but there are often complex health-care system pressures in the hospital setting that cause pharmacists to behave in ways that may conflict with professional values and behaviours. This multisite study aimed to evaluate an interactive education workshop on hospital pharmacists’ ethical reasoning skills and explore the need for ongoing training and support.MethodsThis mixed-methods study was carried out across two health services including three hospitals. It incorporated a pre-workshop survey, a feedback survey immediately post-workshop and a third survey four weeks after the workshop. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with hospital pharmacists at least four weeks after the ethics workshop.ResultsIn total, 32 participants completed the pre-workshop survey, nominating peers/colleagues as the most common source of support they would consult to inform ethical decision-making (17/118 sources of support). Almost all (n = 31/33; 94%) strongly agreed/agreed that the education session provided them with ethical reasoning skills and a process/framework which they could use when faced with an ethical issue. Pre- and post-survey responses showed increased self-confidence in identifying the regulatory frameworks applicable to pharmacy privacy requirements (p = 0.011) and ethical issues applicable to pharmacy privacy requirements (p = 0.002), as well as applying ethical reasoning to scenarios that involve pharmacy privacy dilemmas/issues (p = 0.004). Participants’ self confidence in knowing where to find support when faced with clinical and non-clinical ethics questions was improved (p = 0.002 and p = 0.003 respectively). Participants supported the introduction of quarterly ethics cafes after the workshop, compared to before the workshop (p = 0.001).ConclusionHospital pharmacists rely on discussions with colleagues to brainstorm how to address ethical issues. This study showed that a targeted interactive education workshop facilitated familiarity with ethics resources and decision-making processes. It also demonstrated that this approach could be used to enhance hospital pharmacists’ readiness, confidence, and capabilities to recognise and respond to challenging ethical issues.