Prospective Research Subjects Research Articles

Honey and Mumford learning style: creative thinking process in solving statistical problems

<span lang="EN-US">This research revealed the nature of students’ creative thinking processes with theoretical and pragmatic learning styles in solving problems. The creative thinking process of these students goes through the stages of synthesizing ideas, building ideas, planning the implementation of ideas, and implementing ideas. This research was conducted at one of the junior high schools in Pasuruan Regency, Indonesia. Prospective research subjects are second grade students, totaling 150 students. The research instrument is the researcher as the main instrument and is assisted by additional instruments, namely the learning styles questionnaire (LSQ), the creative thinking test presented in E-module using science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) project-based learning, and interview guidelines. Based on the results of research on creative thinking processes in solving problems in students with theoretical learning styles and students with pragmatic learning styles, it can be concluded that there are differences in the creative thinking process at each stage, namely the stages of synthesizing ideas, building ideas, planning implementation of ideas, and implementing ideas. This difference is caused by differences in character between students with theoretical learning styles and pragmatic learning styles that influence students in building ideas to implement ideas.</span>

Туристська індустрія України: проблеми адаптації у військовий період і перспективи поствоєнного відновлення

The aim of the article is to analyze the current state of the domestic tourism industry in the context of the russian invasion of Ukraine, as well as to develop potential directions for eliminating the negative consequences for the tourism industry, speaking of its further recovery. The article examines the state of the tourism industry during the wartime, considers aspects of its adaptation to the conditions of martial law, and develops proposals for the post-war recovery. Since the onset of the large-scale military aggression, the tourism industry of Ukraine has undergone significant transformations, which have led to the practical halt of all types of tourism, especially at the initial stages of hostilities. However, a full assessment of the impact of military events on Ukrainian tourism becomes very difficult in view of the continuation of large-scale hostilities and the lack of accurate data. The study analyzes the amount of tourist tax and the structure of taxes to the State budget of Ukraine from the activities of tourism industry enterprises, the results of the analysis showed a significant drop in all indicators. An assessment of the impact of tourism development on the gross regional product (GRP) is carried out using correlation and regression analysis. Based on the results of modeling, a regression model of the dependence of GRP on tourist tax has been built, which confirms that the development of tourism in the region contributes to an increase in the gross regional product and has a significant multiplier effect. The features of recreation and work of tourist facilities in different regions of Ukraine are generalized and structured, and it is found that even with the existing restrictions, citizens continue to discover new places worth visiting in Ukraine. This can be attributed to the consideration that constant stress tires the body, and people need rest and recovery. A substantive characterization of the wartime factors of influence on the development of the tourism industry has been determined. It is determined that the recovery of the tourism industry will depend on the pace of restoration of the general and tourist infrastructure and the overall standard of living in the country, which will contribute to the rise of both inbound and outbound tourism. One of the main factors influencing the creation of a safe image of a tourist destination is the level of terrorist threat, in connection with which a set of measures to prevent terrorist threats has been formulated. The main program model for the development of tourism in post-war Ukraine is the public-private partnership (PPP), from the implementation of which the greatest return for the development of the tourism business is expected. In view of the above, the subject of prospective research should be the development of organizational and resource support for the PPP mechanism for the recovery of the tourism industry of Ukraine.

PROSES BERPIKIR REFRAKTIF MAHASISWA BERGAYA KOGNITIF INTUITIVE DALAM MENYELESAIKAN MASALAH KOMPLEKS

This study aims to describe and examine the refractive thinking process of students with intuitive cognitive styles in solving complex problems. This research is an exploratory, descriptive study with a qualitative approach. The prospective research subjects were SWCU and UMS Mathematics Education undergraduate students, totaling 239 students consisting of 155 SWCU students and 84 UMS students. The subjects of this study consisted of 2 students with intuitive cognitive styles. The research instruments include the main and supporting instruments, including complex problems, cognitive style questionnaires, and interview grids. This research results from the refractive thinking process of Mathematics Education students with an intuitive cognitive style in solving complex problems, including perplexity, investigation, construct, evaluation and decision. The stages of an investigation, construct, and evaluation is carried out repeatedly and not sequentially (randomly). The perplexity stage occurs not only at the beginning of the stage but also occurs at each stage of refractive thinking. In addition, students decide to make sewing scheduling guesses based on their intuition.

Feeding the City, Pandemic and Beyond

Feeding the City, Pandemic and Beyond

Contribution of the astrocytic tau pathology to synapse loss in progressive supranuclear palsy and corticobasal degeneration.

Primary 4‐repeat tauopathies with frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) like Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) or Corticobasal Degeneration (CBD) show diverse cellular pathology in various brain regions. Besides shared characteristics of neuronal and oligodendroglial cytoplasmic inclusions of accumulated hyperphosphorylated tau protein (pTau), astrocytes in PSP and CBD contain pathognomonic pTau aggregates — hence, lending the designation tufted astrocytes (TA) or astrocytic plaques (AP), respectively. pTau toxicity is most commonly assigned to neurons, whereas the implications of astrocytic pTau for maintaining neurotransmission within the tripartite synapse of human brains is not well understood. We performed immunofluorescent synapse labeling and automated puncta quantification in the medial frontal gyrus (MFG) and striatal regions from PSP and CBD postmortem samples to capture morphometric synaptic alterations. This approach indicated general synaptic losses of both, excitatory and inhibitory bipartite synapses in the frontal cortex of PSP cases, whereas in CBD lower synapse densities were only related to astrocytic plaques. In contrast to tufted astrocytes in PSP, affected astrocytes in CBD could not preserve synaptic integrity within their spatial domains, when compared to non‐affected internal astrocytes or astrocytes in healthy controls. These findings suggest a pTau pathology‐associated role of astrocytes in maintaining connections within neuronal circuits, considered as the microscopic substrate of cognitive dysfunction in CBD. By contrasting astrocytic‐synaptic associations in both diseases, we hereby highlight astrocytic pTau as an important subject of prospective research and as a potential cellular target for therapeutic approaches in the primary tauopathies PSP and CBD.

Intersection of Serious Games and Learning Motivation for Medical Education

Educational scholars are implementing technologies into the educational process. They use virtual reality, simulations, augmented reality and other immersive technologies that provide entertainment and an interesting, immersive environment as well as engage and motivate students. The aim of this research is to understand the scope and the nature of studies where serious games for medical education are prospective research subjects for the development of learning motivation. There are specific research questions that are of interest to the authors: (1) how many studies are devoted to exploring how serious games and simulations develop learning motivation; (2) how many studies are devoted to medical education, especially continuing professional education; and (3) which professional fields are most reflected in the search results, and is interdisciplinary learning observed? To answer the research questions, a systematic analysis of publications was chosen as the research method. Altogether, 132 articles published from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2018 were selected for the review.

Risk factors in committing domestic violence in light of gender psychology

BackgroundThe present research attempts to establish specific risk factors of domestic violence occurrences, and to pinpoint the gender-specific differences that are their main predictors. According to the subject literature, four categories of variables (personality, temperamental, socialisation, and demographic features) may constitute significant predictors of violent behaviours.Participants and procedureThe selection criterion was the type of crime. Prospective research subjects were men and women convicted under article 207 paragraph 1.2 the Penal Code for abuse of family members. The group constituted 366 inmates – 130 female (35.60%) and 236 male (64.40%). The following measurement methods were used: NEO-FFI Inventory by P. Costa, R. McCrae, Formal Characteristic of Behaviour – Temperament Inventory (FCB-TI) by B. Zawadzki, J. Strelau, Attachment <i>Questionnaire</i> by M. Plopa, <i>Own Questionnaire</i>.ResultsThe results indicate that domestic violence perpetrated by women is connected with alcohol consumption and perseverance; and for men with anxious-ambivalent attachment and briskness.ConclusionsThe research showed the temperamental temporary behavioural characteristics of perseverance and briskness were risk factors for both male and female perpetrators of violence. This may indicate that the main risk factor in occurrences of violence is the way people react to external stimuli, the need for stimulation, and thus the constitution of the nervous system.

Modeling the Relationship between Bank Efficiency, Capital and Risk in Albanian Banking System

Abstract Bank efficiency is considered to be very important in the relationship between risk and capital. It affects both capital and risk and it is seen as one of the factors that determine them. On the other side, capital regulation and risk-taking behaviour influenced by it have an impact on efficiency. This paper gives an overview of theoretical and empirical studies that are going to be used on modelling the relationship between efficiency, capital and risk-taking behaviour of commercial banks operating in Albania during the period 2002-2014. Based on previous works worldwide, a three stage model is found to be a proper one for such analysis about Albanian banking system. According to this model: first, the regression of efficiency and variables indicating risk and capital has to be analysed, second capital will be regressed against variables indicating efficiency and risk and in the third stage risk-taking will be regressed against variables indicating efficiency and capital. Based on previous studies related to this issue there are findings of a positive trade off between inefficiency and bank risk-taking (such as US evidences) and also negative one (such as European banks that seem to hold more capital and take on less risk in case of inefficiency). Defined independent factors of efficiency, capital and risk-taking are going to be used on an empirical study, subject of prospective research. To my knowledge there is no previous study on this issue for Albanian banking system. This model enables testing of different hypotheses about risk, capital, efficiency and relationship between them. It is going to respond to the effects that reduction in cost efficiencies might have on future risks of Albanian commercial banks. Furthermore, this model gives the possibility to test the bad management hypothesis and efficiency version of moral hazard hypotheses for targeted banks and banking system. It also responds to the questions whether bank cost efficiency makes the foundation of banks’ capital position and risk-taking and also whether there is an evidence of relationships between capital and risk-taking in line with moral hazard hypothesis.

Practices and perspectives on building integrated data repositories: results from a 2010 CTSA survey

Clinical integrated data repositories (IDRs) are poised to become a foundational element of biomedical and translational research by providing the coordinated data sources necessary to conduct retrospective analytic research and to identify and recruit prospective research subjects. The Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) consortium's Informatics IDR Group conducted a survey of 2010 consortium members to evaluate recent trends in IDR implementation and use to support research between 2008 and 2010. A web-based survey based in part on a prior 2008 survey was developed and deployed to 46 national CTSA centers. A total of 35 separate organizations completed the survey (74%), representing 28 CTSAs and the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center. Survey results suggest that individual organizations are progressing in their approaches to the development, management, and use of IDRs as a means to support a broad array of research. We describe the major trends and emerging practices below.

Distinction between induction and maintenance dosing in continuous renal replacement therapy

In their excellent review of dosing continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT), Dr Prowle and colleagues concluded that patients should be prescribed 20 to 25 ml/kg/h [1]. However, by averaging CRRT dose over time, studies in this area obfuscate the benefits of appropriately higher dose therapy early in the course of illness, potentially misguiding clinicians into blindly adopting a 'one-size-fits-all' approach and consequently prescribing inadequate doses in life-threatening emergencies. To take a crude example, it would be inappropriate to prescribe 20 ml/kg/h CRRT in a patient with serum potassium 9 mmol/L. Rather, the highest possible dose of CRRT should be initially prescribed to maximize solute clearance. This depends on the maximum circuit flow permitted by the access catheter, which in turn determines the maximum dose, assuming that the countercurrent flow to blood flow ratio should be <0.3 with diffusive CRRT, or a filtration fraction with convective therapy <0.2 [2]. As the potassium level falls, the dose can be lowered to more conventional levels. Parallels could be drawn to general anaesthesia, where induction and maintenance are two distinct phases with different requirements. CRRT prescription could similarly be conceptualized as 'induction', where life-threatening abnormalities are corrected quickly with high-dose therapy, then 'maintenance' where solute clearance is achieved with more temperate doses (for example, 20 to 25 ml/kg/h) to avoid complications such as hypophosphataemia. It seems unlikely that this issue will be the subject of prospective research. Yet the principle that faster correction of life-threatening abnormalities leads to better patient outcomes seems both practical and intuitive.

Informed consent: Are we doing enough?

The process of informed consent is an ethical mandate for all clinical trials. The principles of ethics in research involving human beings decrees the conduct of a process where the prospective research subjects should be informed of all aspects of the research study and after complete comprehension of all the features involved, should express willingness to be a part of the study, and the same should be duly documented. The consent should be fully informed and autonomous. However, with subject populations that are mostly medically naïve and for whom the whole concept of clinical research and the umpteen terms and concepts associated with it are alien; the true essence of an “informed” and “autonomous” decision is largely lost. The consent process thus gets reduced to mainly a “narration-followed-by-signature” process. Over the last few years, this gap in principles and practices of ethics and consent has been acknowledged and innovative concepts and attempts are being fostered, to make the informed consent process more “ethical”. The article discusses the loopholes associated with the informed consent process and the innovative concepts to make it more authentic.

Conducting Research in Disease Outbreaks

Conducting Research in Disease Outbreaks

Informing prospective research subjects of the influence of regulatory requirements for drug approval on the design of clinical trials in oncology

An established tenet of ethical clinical research stipulates that individuals considered for entry into therapeutic trials must be provided with all data that might influence their decision. However, discussion in the literature regarding the investigators' responsibility to inform possible participants about the nature and impact of regulatory requirements on the studies' design has been limited. Three examples are discussed, which illustrate the ethical concerns that might result from the failure of clinical researchers to fully inform patients.

Letter to the editor regarding Strauss et al.

To the Editor:—I laud Strauss et al.1 for identifying driving distance as a system barrier to diabetes control. Such studies provide a renewed interest in alternatives to face-to-face visits. It is important to emphasize the potential value of telephone contacts and electronic linkages, as suggested by the authors. There is evidence that clinical outcomes can be enhanced for diabetes,2 hypertension,3 and depression4 and unscheduled visits can be decreased5 through telephone care contacts. In addition, a recent survey of diabetics indicated that over one-third of those queried were internet users.6 I do note, however, that only 1,576/4,209 (37%) of the potential subjects of Strauss's study could be reached by phone. Was the low number of those contacted the result of the lack of a telephone, follow-up attempts to call prospective research subjects, medical record administrative information, or some other reason? Having conducted a VA telephone care clinic from 2001 to 2003 solely to manage diabetes, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia,7 I rarely encountered a situation when a patient could not be reached by telephone despite the fact many were of lower financial socioeconomic status and resided in rural areas. I also wonder if those contacted in this study were queried about access to the internet.

Inclusion of Patients with Severe Mental Illness in Clinical Trials

Modern medicine would be unthinkable without the possibility of administering pharmaceuticals and other evidence-based interventions. The development of these interventions requires scientific research, ultimately with human subjects. This venture raises ethical, legal and human rights issues, which are addressed in numerous national and international declarations and regulations. In these documents, special attention is usually directed towards research involving vulnerable groups, such as children, pregnant women, unemployed persons, refugees, patients with psychiatric disorders, dementia or mental retardation, and those who are dying. In relation to patients with psychiatric disorders, two important and mutually connected ethical questions can be posed. Firstly, is research with persons who have severe psychiatric illnesses permissible? And, secondly, how can the mental capacity of prospective research subjects be assessed? We investigate these questions using the Dutch legal system as an example. Regarding the first question, the Dutch Medical-Scientific Research on Human Subjects Act (1998) presents a detailed regulation that is in line with relevant international documents, such as the Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine (1997). In the Dutch statute, the possibilities for research involving subjects who lack mental capacity are limited, but not completely excluded. Under certain conditions, two types of research are exempted from the general prohibition of research with such subjects that is included in article 4 of the statute. These two types are (i) therapeutic research and (ii) non-therapeutic research that could not take place without the participation of subjects from the category to which the mentally incapacitated person belongs. The conditions pertain to ethical and scientific review, insurance, written proxy consent and respect for resistance by the subject. An extra condition for the permissibility of non-therapeutic research is that the risks for the prospective subject are negligible and the burdens minimal. Although the Dutch regulation obviously does not solve all problems, it is relatively clear when compared with the situation in other European countries, such as Belgium, France, Germany, and England and Wales. Regarding the second question, two basic factors need to be considered when defining 'mental capacity'. These relate to the assumption of competence and to the task-specificity of capacity. The crucial issue in assessing mental capacity is not whether a psychiatric diagnosis is present, but whether the patient has the mental abilities required to make the decision at hand in a meaningful way. In establishing an appropriate standard for capacity assessment, several interests have to be weighed. The ethical demands of protection of subjects and stimulation of scientific research may be balanced by attempting to enhance patients' mental capacity. The procedure of 'experienced consent' seems promising in this regard, although this approach entails its own ethical problems.

ETHICS AND HEALTH SYSTEMS RESEARCH IN ‘POST’‐CONFLICT SITUATIONS

Although considerable attention has been given to ethical issues related to clinical research in developing countries, in particular related to HIV therapy, there has been limited focus on health systems research, despite its increasing importance in the light of current trends in development assistance. This paper examines ethical issues related to health systems research in 'post'-conflict situations, addressing both generic issues for developing countries and those issues specific to 'post'-conflict societies, citing examples from the author's Cambodian experience. It argues that the destruction of health infrastructure results in a loss of structures and processes that would otherwise protect prospective research subjects who are part of vulnerable populations. It identifies the growth of health systems research as part of a trend towards sectoral and programmatic development assistance, the emergence of 'knowledge generation' as a form of research linked to development, and the potential for conflict where multilateral and bilateral donors are both primary funders and users of health systems research. It also examines the position of the health system researcher in relation to the sponsors of this research, and the health system being analysed.

Doctors' duty to disclose error: a deontological or Kantian ethical analysis.

Medical (surgical) error is being talked about more openly and besides being the subject of retrospective reviews, is now the subject of prospective research. Disclosure of error has been a difficult issue because of fear of embarrassment for doctors in the eyes of their peers, and fear of punitive action by patients, consisting of medicolegal action and/or complaints to doctors' governing bodies. This paper examines physicians' and surgeons' duty to disclose error, from an ethical standpoint; specifically by applying the moral philosophical theory espoused by Immanuel Kant (ie. deontology). The purpose of this discourse is to apply moral philosophical analysis to a delicate but important issue which will be a matter all physicians and surgeons will have to confront, probably numerous times, in their professional careers.

Perinatal substance abuse and human subjects research: are privacy protections adequate?

Privacy incursions in the clinical care of substance abusing pregnant women have gained lay and professional attention recently as the result of a high-profile Supreme Court finding in Ferguson vs City of Charleston et al. In March, 2001 the Supreme Court determined that nonconsensual drug screening of pregnant women by clinicians in a public hospital violated the women's Fourth Amendment rights to be secure against unreasonable search and seizure. Coercive or punitive policy approaches to perinatal substance abuse are often based on mistaken assumptions about the nature of addiction and the outcomes of punitive interventions. Much attention has been given to efforts to criminalize pregnancy for drug using women, and civil laws are also coming under increasing scrutiny. Although no state has passed a law criminalizing pregnancy and drug use, an estimated 250 women in more than 30 states have been prosecuted around the country on theories of "fetal abuse." A growing number of states (eighteen to date) have amended their civil child welfare laws to address specifically the subject of a woman's drug use during pregnancy. No one has examined how these laws and social policies could affect research that includes pregnant and parenting women; women (and their families) who stand to lose a great deal should their drug use be brought to the attention of child welfare or criminal justice authorities. We examine the adequacy of current protective mechanisms, such as federal certificates of confidentiality, in protecting research subjects (and investigators) who may be subject to punitive civil or criminal sanctions. We determine that current protective mechanisms may be insufficient to protect research subjects and that investigators and IRB members are often ignorant of the risks imposed by punitive policy approaches to perinatal substance abuse or fall prey to the same mistaken assumptions that inform punitive policies. We conclude that investigators and IRB members have a moral responsibility to understand local, state and national policies and laws governing perinatal substance abuse. Investigators and IRB members should balance the harms of punitive interventions against the protections that may, or may not be afforded to prospective research subjects as well as the prospective benefits, individual and social, of the research. In situations where criminal or punitive policies are in effect, investigators and IRB members should consider whether adequate protections can be achieved. In the context of inadequate protections, potential risks to prospective research subjects and their families may outweigh the individual or social benefits that accrue from the research. Clinical researchers are professionally obligated to work toward amending laws and policies that are not in the best interests of prospective research subjects.

Conflicting Interests, Social Justice and Proxy Consent to Research

Historically the primary role of the Institutional Review Board (IRB) has been "to assure, both in advance and by periodic review, that appropriate steps are taken to protect the rights and welfare of humans participating as subjects in research" (U.S. FDA, 1996). However, there is much to suggest that IRBs have been unable to fulfil this mandate, particularly in regard to the matter of informed consent. Part of the problem in this regard is that the competing interests of other stakeholders often undermine the IRB's capacity to serve the best interests of research subjects. This paper proposes an alternative view of the role of the IRB. It begins by treating the interests of other stakeholders as legitimate matters of concern for IRBs. Hence the process established to review and monitor human research should be treated as an exercise in social justice in which the interests of all legitimate stakeholders must be represented and considered. A variation of Rawls' (1971) heuristic "the veil of ignorance" is employed to explore the dynamic relationship between knowledge and interests that ensues when the role of the IRB is characterized in this manner. Inadequacies in the informed consent process are taken as illustrative of the inability of IRBs as they are presently construed to attend to the interests of research subjects. The major normative implication of the analysis offered here is that the role of the IRB must be expanded to include the granting of a provisional proxy consent on behalf of prospective research subjects. This provision is necessary, it is argued, if the interests of research subjects are to be fairly assessed by IRBs as a matter of social justice. It is necessary as well to ensure that an adequate standard of informed consent is attained. Somewhat paradoxically it is argued that the interests of research subjects are better served when treated as one among a number of competing sets of interests the IRB must serve, rather than as the primary concern of the IRB.

The therapeutic misconception: Informed consent in psychiatric research

The process by which informed consent has become an accepted part of medical and psychiatric research is reflected in the evolution of the voluminous professional literature on the subject. Early papers, focusing on the existence of ethically improper research,’ soon gave way to discussions of informed consent as a tool for satisfying ethical imperatives and protecting research subjects.2 Researchers themselves weighed in next with concerns about the impact of informed consent on the conduct of research.3 At the same time, as federal regulations firmly established informed consent as an integral part of research with human subjects, a plethora of empirical studies began to appear. Some fought a rear guard action, challenging the applicability of the doctrine on the grounds that subjects could not comprehend or utilize the information researchers were now obliged to disclose;4 others investigated a variety of approaches for improving subject comprehension.5 Conspicuous by the relative inattention it received in this process was a detailed consideration of the actual material to be disclosed to prospective research subjects. Accepting the ethical and legal importance of informed consent, what information must be communicated to achieve the desired ends? Many writers on the subject cite the items enumerated in the regulations of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which govern most research with human subjects in the United States, as if they provide a satisfactory answer to this question. Yet, the requirement that prospective subjects be pro-