Responsible Choices Research Articles

Consumer Purchasing to Improve Environmental and Worker Health

Background: Consumers have the power to change how companies do business. For example, Remake promotes Fashion for Good by encouraging sustainable clothing with fair pricing. Empowering consumers to make responsible choices when purchasing clothing has the potential to significantly impact workplace and environmental health in countries where textiles and clothing are made. Methods: A pilot study done in 2018 at the University of Michigan indicated that 6% of consumers always think about environmental effects and 12% always think about worker health effects. Fifty-four percent (54%) and 62% of respondents reported that they sometimes think about worker and environmental health, respectively. The rest of the respondents never think about either when purchasing clothing. All 102 respondents who participated in this online survey purchased clothing. They ranged in age from 18 to 78 (median age, 38) and 75% were female. Their incomes ranged from $29,700 to $114,100 (median income, $48,900). Results: About 75% of the respondents indicated that they would, or maybe would, be willing to pay more for clothing to protect environmental and worker health. The main barrier to paying more is uncertainty that the money would actually be used to those purposes. Lack of brand transparency and trustworthiness also reduced their willingness to pay more.Conclusions: Basic demographics is important to understand consumer needs. Several fashion companies and fashion-associated non-profits are promoting sustainable clothing lines and educating the public about the adverse health impacts of fast fashion. This pilot study is a first step to evaluating how market forces can induce a shift toward a public health focus on prevention and how sustainable fashion companies can better craft their message. Empowering consumers to improve environmental and worker health is an idea whose time has come.

Understanding the Tourists’ Perspective of Sustainability in Cultural Tourist Destinations

Considering the tourists’ viewpoint when creating a sustainable destination is crucial since marketing may be the driving force behind many sustainability initiatives. However, most of the literature has followed a supply-based perspective, ignoring the way that tourists view sustainability attributes. Therefore, this research attempts to address this gap in the literature by analyzing tourists’ perceptions concerning sustainability attributes in tourist destinations. This research aims to determine which of these traits are seen as most important by the tourists and to ascertain their willingness to pay for these aspects. The study is quantitative, based on an online questionnaire administered to Turkish cultural tourists. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses are used to obtain insights into how tourists consider sustainability aspects in tourist destinations. Thus, this research concludes that tourists view sustainability from a more varied perspective than that embraced by the classic definition of the concept, which comprises economic, environmental and socio-cultural dimensions. The findings of the study also determine that tourists favor sustainability attributes that are instrumental in enhancing their own tourist experiences. This information may be useful for destinations, providing guidance about how to market sustainable tourist destinations and encourage responsible tourism choices.

Features of informatization of sociological knowledge

The article assumes an analysis of information as one of the most important socially significant resources of modern civilization. The authors stressed that main paradigm characteristic of modern social theory can be expressed by the thesis about the impossibility of direct access to social phenomena. In modern civilization, information is becoming one of the most important socially significant resources. The authors think that its role as a strategic resource increases with the development of network technologies that accelerate data transfer and facilitate the search for necessary information. The authors are confident that the role of higher education in this process is key. But it itself is faced with a huge number of problems, one of which is improving the quality of its functioning and guaranteeing the results of its activities. This problem is closely related to the implementation of innovations. The authors suggest that innovation in education should be understood as an innovation designed to resolve the current problem situation in order to optimize the educational process, improve its quality or organize favorable conditions for the assimilation of material by students. Based on a critical approach to reform the current system of higher education the paper touches upon the need to change the process infornatization of humanities education.. The authors conclude that the development of humanities education in the information society is aimed at implementing an interdisciplinary approach, ie should ensure the effectiveness of the development and application of humanities knowledge and form a conscious responsible choice in a variety of cultural meanings, cultural self-determination.

The pitfalls of personalization rhetoric in time of health crisis: COVID-19 pandemic and cracks on neoliberal ideologies.

SummaryThe rise of the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the incongruity of individualization ideologies that position individuals at the centre of health care, by contributing, making informed decisions and exercising choice regarding their health options and lifestyle considerations. When confronted with a global health threat, government across the world, have understood that the rhetoric of individualization, personal responsibility and personal choice would only led to disastrous national health consequences. In other words, individual choice offers a poor criterion to guide the health and wellbeing of a population. This reality has forced many advanced economies around the world to suspend their pledges to ‘small government’, individual responsibility and individual freedom, opting instead for a more rebalanced approach to economic and health outcomes with an increasing role for institutions and mutualization. For many marginalized communities, individualization ideologies and personalization approaches have never worked. On the contrary, they have exacerbated social and health inequalities by benefiting affluent individuals who possess the educational, cultural and economic resources required to exercise ‘responsibility’, avert risks and adopt health protecting behaviours. The individualization of the management of risk has also further stigmatized the poor by shifting the blame for poor health outcomes from government to individuals. This paper will explore how the COVID-19 pandemic exposes the cracks of neoliberal rhetoric on personalization and opens new opportunities to approach the health of a nation as socially, economically and politically determined requiring ‘upstream’ interventions on key areas of health including housing, employment, education and access to health care.

From the Tree of Knowledge & the Golem of Prague: The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence Through Jewish Eyes

This paper discusses the regulation of artificial intelligence from a Jewish perspective, with an emphasis on the regulation of machine learning and its application to autonomous vehicles and machine learning. Through the Biblical story of Adam and Eve as well as Golem legends from Jewish folklore, we derive several basic principles that underlie a Jewish perspective on the moral and legal person-hood of robots and other artificially intelligent agents. We argue that religious ethics in general, and Jewish ethics in particular, show us that the dangers of granting moral person-hood to robots and in particular to autonomous vehicles lie not in the fact that they lack a soul – or consciousness or feelings or interests – but because to do so weakens our own ability to develop as fully autonomous legal and moral persons. Instead, we argue that existing legal persons should continue to maintain legal control over artificial agents, while natural persons assume ultimate moral responsibility for choices made by artificial agents they employ in their service. In the final section of the paper we discuss the trolley dilemma in the context of governing autonomous vehicles and sketch out an application of Jewish ethics in a case where we are asking Artificial Intelligence to make life and death decisions. Our novel contribution is twofold; first, we bring a religious approach to the discussion of the ethics of Artificial Intelligence which has hitherto been dominated by secular Western philosophies; second, we raise the idea that artificial entities who are trained through machine learning can be ethically trained in much the same way that human are – through reading and reflecting on core religious texts. This is both a way of ensuring the ethical regulation of artificial intelligence, but also promotes other core values of regulation, such as democratic engagement and user choice.

Pedagogical Conditions for Value Self-Determination of Students in the Multilingual Education

The article is dedicated to the problem of the value self-determination in the multilingual education. The article defines the relevance of the stated problem expressed in the fact that modern conditions both external (globalization, integration, informatization, mobility) and internal (life in a multinational, multicultural environment, maintenance of national identity) dictate the need to solve an important strategic task – the formation of a person capable of living and actively participating in all processes of a multicultural, multilingual world. The article emphasizes that science has accumulated sufficient experience in the development of multicultural, multilingual education, however, there are unresolved issues relating to the content, means of education, and the organization of the process of multilingual education. As a result of the theoretical analysis, the article defines that self-determination is a valuable part of the student’s development, reflecting ascension to the values of multilingual education and the result expressed in the ability of responsible choice of aims and values, multicultural cooperation. As a result of the theoretical analysis and the application of such methods as questionnaires, cultural value orientation test, the test of communicative skills by L. Michelson, the pedagogical conditions of student’s value self-determination in multilingual education have been revealed: axiologization of the educational content, enrichment of value attitude to the multicultural world, other nations and one’s own Self, value cooperation in multicultural practices.
 Keywords: multilingual education, value self-determination, pedagogical conditions

How does the environmental knowledge of Turkish households affect their environmentally responsible food choices? The mediating effects of environmental concerns

The main objective of the present study is to examine whether Turkish households’ environmental knowledge effects environmentally responsible food choices through the mediating effect of households' environmental concerns. A face-to-face survey was conducted, resulting in 450 responses from households that have recently chosen environmentally responsible foods in Erzurum, Turkey. The hypotheses were tested using the partial least squares-based structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) technique to detect how the mediating role of environmental concerns plays in the relationships between environmental knowledge and households’ environmentally responsible food choices. The findings confirm that environmental knowledge and environmental concerns positively and significantly enhance households' environmentally responsible food choices. It is also the first study to examine the mediational effect of environmental concerns on environmental knowledge and households’ environmentally responsible food choice relations. The findings of the study and its implications are expected to benefit the development of environmentally responsible foods in the Turkish food industry.

Luck and the Limits of Equality

A recent movement within political philosophy called luck egalitarianism has attempted to synthesize the right’s regard for responsibility with the left’s concern for equality. The original motivation for subscribing to luck egalitarianism stems from the belief that one’s success in life ought to reflect one’s own choices and not brute luck. Luck egalitarian theorists differ in the decision procedures that they propose, but they share in common the general approach that we ought to equalize individuals with respect to brute luck so that differences in distribution are only a consequence of the responsible choices that individuals make. I intend to show that through the application of its own distributive procedures, the interpersonal luck egalitarian approach actually undermines its original motivation by making the lives of individuals subject to brute luck. I propose two alternative methods that the luck egalitarian could use to prevent the problems suffered by the interpersonal luck egalitarian standard.

Alkaline habitat for vegetated roofs? Ecosystem dynamics in a vegetated roof with crushed concrete-based substrate

Using local and recycled materials is a sustainable way to establish a vegetated roof. In order to understand how the roof ecosystem functions and returns ecosystem services, it is important to study vegetation, soil organisms and runoff quality. We established a vegetated roof experiment based on a substrate containing lightweight crushed concrete, an alkaline side product from a concrete factory, mixed with compost. This five-year experiment in southern Finland tested how planting method (pre-grown vegetation mats vs. pot planting), compost content (20% vs. 40%, fresh volume), and substrate depth affect the cover and diversity of plants, the abundance of soil animals and the quality of runoff. Although the substrate had a high pH (7.3–11.8), many vascular plants were able to survive and establish viable populations. The planting method had a strong effect on plant diversity and the cover of individual species because the vegetation mats became dominated by the invasive, non-native Phedimus hybridus. Establishment with pot plants in turn provided bare ground that was colonised by spontaneous non-invasive species. This resulted in higher diversity, and a more even distribution of species. The amount of compost had only a weak impact on vegetation, whereas high pH generally reduced plant abundance and diversity. The concentrations of total phosphorus and total nitrogen in runoff were low as compared to values reported from many other vegetated roofs, were not affected by compost content and decreased over time. In summary, the high-pH substrate based on recycled materials is an environmentally responsible choice, suitable for a wide variety of plants, even rare and endangered species.

Assessment of Fasting Blood Glucose Level of Undergraduates in Abeokuta Ogun State Nigeria

Objectives: Impaired Fasting Glucose (IFG) is a condition where Fasting Blood Glucose (FBG) is above normal but not high enough to be considered diabetic. Impaired fasting glucose is linked with many co-morbid diseases such as obesity, dyslipidemia and hypertension. The study assessed the prevalence of impaired fasting glucose concentration among undergraduates in Ogun state South-West Nigeria.
 Materials and Methods: A purposive sampling technique was used to select three hundred undergraduate students willing and ready participant. A pretested structured questionnaire was used to obtain the socio-economic information of the undergraduates. Fasting blood glucose, weight, height and blood pressure were determined using glucometer, weighing scale, height meter and sphygmomanometer respectively.
 Results: The result of the study showed that the prevalence of IFG among undergraduate in South West Nigeria was 11.0% (n=33) of total participants. A higher prevalence of impaired fasting glucose (IFG) was found with females than males. Body mass index of the subject reviewed that (11.0%, n=33) were underweight, (61.0%, n=183) had normal weight, (27.3%, n=82) were overweight and (0.7%, n=2) were obese.
 Conclusion: In conclusion, some of the participants had abnormal FBG (11%, n=33). Nutritional program/workshop should be organized by the institutions to enable undergraduates make a healthy, responsible lifestyle choices and consume a well-balanced diet.

Evolutionary Formation and Functional Significance of the Core–Belt Pattern of Neural Organization of Rostral Auditory Centers in Vertebrates

We survey the literature data on rostral auditory centers in amniotes with a focus on their core–belt neural organization, as related to lemniscal (core) and extralemniscal or non-lemniscal (belt) pathways. Our immunohistochemical results on the distribution of the calcium-binding proteins, parvalbumin (PV) and calbindin (CB), in the pigeon mesencephalic (MLD) and thalamic (Ov) auditory centers clearly demonstrate the presence of this cytoarchitectonic pattern of neural organization in birds. We analyze its functional significance for the optimal integration of the results of perceptual auditory information processing and its affective assessment due to neural connections between the belt regions of auditory centers and limbic centers. In the latter, specifically in the amygdala, there are audiomotor and audiovegetative relays responsible for the choice and implementation of behavioral types most adequate to each given context. A comparative analysis of different characteristics of auditory centers across a broad range of vertebrates allows hypothesizing about the origin, conservation and transformation of the core and belt regions of auditory centers during evolution.

Institutional Ambiguity and Ontological Politics in Integrating Sustainability into Finnish Dietary Guidelines

Dietary guidelines are a key policy instrument in guiding the way people eat in many countries. Traditionally, the guidelines focus on the public health aspects of diets. During the last decade, sustainability has increasingly been incorporated into dietary guidelines, emphasizing that sustainable diet benefits both health and the environment. This article analyses the integration of sustainability into dietary guidelines in Finland. The analysis is situated within the ontological turn in social theory, understanding food as ontologically multiple. We employ Annemarie Mol’s concept of ontonorms in analyzing the Finnish dietary guidelines. Currently, in Finland, there seems to be a situation of institutional ambiguity regarding where and by whom sustainable food policy is being made and what does it constitute. We claim that the ontological multiplicity of food is partly constituted by, and at the same time constitutive of, the institutional ambiguity, and as a result, the guidelines do not yet provide clear guidance for sustainable food practices. As the guidelines fail to coordinate the multiplicity, they increase the normative burden on consumers to make responsible choices. In the latest Finnish guidelines targeted for children, however, steps are taken towards a more inclusive, caring understanding of sustainable dietary guidance.

Fulfilment of personal potential by high school graduates in time of career choice

The paper presents results of the desktop analysis on the current status of the problem of the personal potential in terms of psychology. It provides the author's understanding of the term as the formation consistent and structured in its psychological aspect. This is the analysis of the characteristics that the career choice has and the difficulties that the graduates face in this process. We believe that substantial resources for the independent and responsible career choice are inherent in the personal potential. According to the research methods, the structure of the personal potential includes intra and interpsychological characteristics. Internal factors relate to the non-acceptance of the choice situation, the lack of skills that are necessary for subjective construction of its process. They also come from hesitation, lack of confidence, poor self-concept, internal conflicts, low community commitment, etc. In most cases, the powerful influence of relevant adults is an external obstacle. The data obtained justify a need in psychological and education counseling to develop the personal potential of graduates. In this regard, one of the main tasks is to provide graduates with competent and comprehensive support to overcome difficulties in the process of making the career choice and personal potential development. 
 Keywords: personal potential, career choice, person’s social resources, individual opportunities, commitment of graduates, self-control resources;

Socio-Demographic Aspects Affecting Individual Stances towards Electric and Hybrid Vehicles in the Czech Republic

The world’s human population and its natural environment are currently facing many unfavourable effects from climate change. A significant proportion of this phenomenon is attributable to air pollution generated by combustion engines used in transportation (greenhouse gases, dust particles, etc.). Despite the inevitable need for decisive actions to reverse climate change, central authorities may face significant pushbacks when actually promoting or enforcing electric and hybrid-based mobility, if a wrong (ineffective) mix of restrictions and incentives is applied. Using primary data from the Czech Republic (surveyed in 2019), we use logistic regression and other means of quantitative analysis to provide detailed information on socio-demographic and lifestyle factors affecting individual stances towards different aspects involved with the upcoming transition towards clean personal transportation. In this paper, we focus on topics related to electric and hybrid vehicles. Based on our analysis, we provide actionable information to facilitate the complex process of turning combustion-based transportation into a sustainable feature of our modern society. We find important gender and age-related differences in opinions towards diverse aspects related to changes in personal mobility. Women and older individuals are significantly more in favour of environmentally responsible transportation means. Active car-drivers (individuals who perceive themselves as such) in lifestyle segmentation are distinctively less in favour of ecologically oriented changes – hence such individuals ought be the primary targets for marketing and educational activities (perhaps even state-sponsored) aimed to shift vehicle (mobility in general) procurements towards environmentally responsible choices. Implications for Central European audience: Climate protection is a key subject embedded in multiple EU policies. In Central European countries, the forthcoming transitioning of individual mobility towards EVs and hybrids might be a bit more complicated as compared to “old” EU members: our purchasing power is weaker, our car markets are more price sensitive and they rely heavily on imported second-hand cars. Our insights may be used to alleviate possible complications and bottlenecks in the process of reducing environmental pollution produced by individual transportation.

Factorial study of the RNA-seq computational workflow identifies biases as technical gene signatures.

RNA-seq is a modular experimental and computational approach aiming in identifying and quantifying RNA molecules. The modularity of the RNA-seq technology enables adaptation of the protocol to develop new ways to explore RNA biology, but this modularity also brings forth the importance of methodological thoroughness. Liberty of approach comes with the responsibility of choices, and such choices must be informed. Here, we present an approach that identifies gene group-specific quantification biases in current RNA-seq software and references by processing datasets using diverse RNA-seq computational pipelines, and by decomposing these expression datasets with an independent component analysis matrix factorization method. By exploring the RNA-seq pipeline using this systemic approach, we identify genome annotations as a design choice that affects to the same extent quantification results as does the choice of aligners and quantifiers. We also show that the different choices in RNA-seq methodology are not independent, identifying interactions between genome annotations and quantification software. Genes were mainly affected by differences in their sequence, by overlapping genes and genes with similar sequence. Our approach offers an explanation for the observed biases by identifying the common features used differently by the software and references, therefore providing leads for the betterment of RNA-seq methodology.

To go or not to go, that is the question: Using social influence to reduce hot beverage cup waste

ABSTRACT While most consumers today feel concerned by environmental issues, the consumption of hot beverage in disposable cups remains very important. In this study, we use influence strategies related to social norms to reduce these behaviors and get consumers to consume their hot beverage in reusable cups. 14373 orders were analyzed and demonstrate that normative messages can be effective to change consumer behavior toward a more responsible choices.

Reflection of the Phenomenon of Freedom in Categories of Criminal Law

Freedom is a natural-legal value that makes up the essence of human nature and therefore it is innate. The latter determines a research interest in how freedom in all the variety of its essential features (freedom, choice, freedom of will, boundaries of freedom, independence of an individual, etc.) manifests itself in various forms of human life, including such a segment of positive law as criminal law. Being a guarantee of personality development, allowing it to break out of the circle of diverse social connections determining its behavior, freedom, nevertheless, has certain limits of its activity. The establishment of these boundaries is necessary to ensure the freedom of each person so that the freedom of one does not become the non-freedom of the other. These boundaries are set by all positive law, including criminal law. Hence, ensuring personal freedom should be the goal of criminal law-making and criminalization of dangerous forms of human behavior. However, ensuring freedom and educating a person in the spirit of a conscious and responsible choice is not the same thing. Therefore, mixing or combining these goals in criminal law is contrary to the goals of legal regulation and testifies to the right of paternalism, incompatible with the purpose and possibilities of law in general and criminal law in particular. The realization of freedom outside is the act of a person, which is the result of a conscious choice of one of the many options for the behavior of the individual as a rational being. Consequently, a set of conscious behaviors themselves, as well as criminal ones which have not gone beyond the limits of its mental activity, i.e. not taken place in the act, under no circumstances can be declared criminal. Hence, the authors once again emphasize that the occurrence and revealing intent to commit a crime are indifferent to the criminal law and are outside its scope. Freedom as a choice embodied in a person's deed is ensured by the establishment of norms in criminal law aimed at protecting external freedom. The latter, through criminal law, legally guarantees an individual the possibility of unimpeded movement, choice of place of residence, place of stay, acting in this capacity as a prerequisite for the realization of freedom in its anthropological dimension. But human freedom manifests itself most vividly as a sign of guilt, which is an indispensable sign of any corpus delicti – the only basis for criminal liability and, therefore, the most serious personality restrictions. It should be noted that the principle of guilt (liability for guilt) is enshrined in the criminal law (Article 5) among the fundamental principles of the industry. Subject to Art. 5 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation criminal liability is possible only if there is guilt as a conscious-volitional attitude of a person to the deed and its consequences.

ДОСЛІДЖЕННЯ ХМАРНИХ ТЕХНОЛОГІЙ ЯК СЕРВІСІВ

In order to determine the basic conditions for further research to identify threats to cloud technologies and measures for their counteraction, the article provides an extended analysis of cloud computing as a service. Among the above services, the basic services IaaS, SaaS, PaaS are selected, which are the basis for the existence of more unified services (CaaS, MCaS, DaaS, FaaS, IPaaS, MBaaS, NaaS, SeCaa, DBaaS, MaaS, DBaaS, MaaS, DBaaS, MaaS that increase the scope. Listed are possible service providers, including Ukrainian. It is determined that in order to transfer the work of systems of engineering calculations and computer-aided design (CAD) systems to a cloud platform, a rather new promising service CAEaaS (Cоmputеr Аidеd Еnginееrіng аs а Sеrvіcе) – computer engineering systems as a service. The most popular SAEs are used in the following industries: mechanical engineering and machine tools, defense and aerospace, energy, shipbuilding, semiconductor production, telecommunications, chemical, pharmaceutical and medical industry, construction, production of heating, air conditioning, ventilation. The success of a project decision depends on the awareness of responsible choice in the very first stage. Unfortunately, in support of the CAEaaS cloud service, Ukraine is only making the first steps and can provide the technological needs of enterprises, provided the involvement of foreign suppliers. According to the authors of the article, the future of the Ukrainian industry according to the cloud service SAEaS. Because CAE helps reduce the cost and time of product development, improve product quality and durability. Design decisions can be made based on their impact on performance. Designs can be evaluated and refined using computer modeling rather than physical prototype testing, saving money and time. This article is the basis for further research on the identification of threats to cloud technologies and their response.

Existentialism as Philosophy of the Possible

In this paper Abbagnano outlines his conception of “positive existentialism” as a philosophy of freedom and of responsible choice, in opposition to any form of dogmatism. In our everyday existence, we constantly face possibilities, meaning we are always required to make choices between the different alternatives we are presented with. Abbagnano thus argues that philosophy must provide a criterion for our existential choices, which he identifies in the possible itself. Existentialism is then understood as that philosophy which establishes valid criteria according to which human beings can choose, and that can reduce the possibility of error and constitute norms and rules of conduct. Abbagnano maintains that choosing wisely and freely means that the choice one makes in a specific moment can and should be renewed and repeated under any circumstance. Accordingly, our task is to establish criteria that will not lead us to irreparable error, but will allow us to implement a practice of always renewable choices.

“We called that a behavior”: The making of institutional data

Predictive uses of data are becoming widespread in institutional settings as actors seek to anticipate people and their activities. Predictive modeling is increasingly the subject of scholarly and public criticism. Less common, however, is scrutiny directed at the data that inform predictive models beyond concerns about homogenous training data or general epistemological critiques of data. In this paper, I draw from a qualitative case study set in higher education in the United States to investigate the making of data. Data analytics projects at universities have become more pervasive and intensive to better understand and anticipate undergraduate student bodies. Drawing from 12 months of ethnographic research at a large public university, I analyze the ways data personnel at the institution—data scientists, administrators, and programmers—sort student data into “attributes” and “behaviors,” where “attributes” are demographic data that students “can’t change.” “Behaviors,” in contrast, are data defined as reflective of what students can choose: attending and paying attention in class, studying on campus, among other data which personnel categorize as what students have control over. This discursive split enables the institution nudge students to make responsible choices according to behavior data that correlate with success in the predictive model. In discussing how personnel type, sort, stabilize, and nudge on behavior data, this paper examines the contingencies of data making processes and implications for the application of student data.