Personal Understanding Research Articles

Medical Aid in Dying: New Frontiers in Medicine, Law, and Culture

Medical aid in dying (MAID) has been a productive target for social scientific inquiry at the intersections of law and medicine over the past two decades. Insofar as MAID crystallizes and reflects personal and cultural understandings of key concepts such as individualism, dependency, dignity, and care, it is a rich site for social scientific theorizing. This article reviews and assesses the contributions of social scientific perspectives to research on MAID. We propose that social scientific research on MAID offers four distinctive contributions: its descriptive (rather than normative) orientation, its focus on cultural meanings, its insights into processes of knowledge production, and its comparative lens. The article's major sections describe ( a) attitudes toward MAID, ( b) MAID-related social movements, ( c) legalization approaches, and ( d) lived experiences of MAID in permissive jurisdictions. We conclude by reflecting on how MAID scholarship can inform social inquiry into other areas in which law and medicine converge.

Recent Advances in Phase-Engineered Photocatalysts: Classification and Diversified Applications.

Phase engineering is an emerging strategy for tuning the electronic states and catalytic functions of nanomaterials. Great interest has recently been captured by phase-engineered photocatalysts, including the unconventional phase, amorphous phase, and heterophase. Phase engineering of photocatalytic materials (including semiconductors and cocatalysts) can effectively affect the light absorption range, charge separation efficiency, or surface redox reactivity, resulting in different catalytic behavior. The applications for phase-engineered photocatalysts are widely reported, for example, hydrogen evolution, oxygen evolution, CO2 reduction, and organic pollutant removal. This review will firstly provide a critical insight into the classification of phase engineering for photocatalysis. Then, the state-of-the-art development of phase engineering toward photocatalytic reactions will be presented, focusing on the synthesis and characterization methodologies for unique phase structure and the correlation between phase structure and photocatalytic performance. Finally, personal understanding of the current opportunities and challenges of phase engineering for photocatalysis will also be provided.

Temperament, Personality, and Childhood Trauma in the Development of Psychopathy

The relationship between temperament, personality traits, and childhood experience impedes the systematic integration of findings on how both individual and situational factors construct the likelihood of developing psychopathy. Based on individual differences in reactivity and self-regulation, one's temperament is determined by their biological make-up, which has been shaped over time by experience and inheritance. When referring to persistent patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, personality is a broader concept than temperament and includes abilities, values, beliefs, morals, and social cognitions. Increasing knowledge of temperament highlights a central understanding of personality refined during infancy and childhood. Meanwhile, according to existing studies, exposure to childhood maltreatment can be thought of important risk factor that raises the likelihood of a more severe manifestation of psychopathic tendencies in those who are vulnerable. This paper reviews the significance of all three factors during different stages of life to prompt the constitution of such mental disorders.

Characteristics of the Household-Scale Fisheries Industry in West Java, Indonesia

Aims: The fact that level of fish consumption in Indonesia is relatively low in 2021 at 55.16 kg/capita compared to the fishery production which has reached 21,872,810.30 tonnes. One of the causes is the lack of various types of processed fishery products on the market which makes people tend to get bored consuming fishery products, one of the efforts that can be taken is to increase the household-scale fisheries industry. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out further research on the characterization of the household-scale fisheries industry to determine its characteristics as well as to be used as a reference for increasing fish consumption in the future.
 Study Design: A Case study.
 Place and Duration of Study: Several areas in West Java, such as Sumedang Regency, Bogor Regency, Bandung City, and Depok City, 1 March 2023 - 31 March 2023 (1 month).
 Methodology: This research was conducted by taking random samples and analyzing using descriptive analysis with 6 interviewees (4 men and 2 women).
 Results: The procurement of raw materials is purchased by business owners at the nearest local market with cash payments and an open system. The use of the means of production is still simple. Own innovation recipe. Some have implemented a factory layout, some don't have a factory layout. Doing market segmentation properly, targeting all groups, products are distributed directly to consumers. Promotion techniques are carried out online following existing technological developments. Determine the cost-plus pricing method. The majority have competitors located around the industry.
 Conclusion: The duration of opening a business and the level of education can affect a person's experience and understanding of doing business. Always prioritizing cleanliness, the quality of raw materials, the technology used, and the quality of the final product can affect the progress of an industrial business.

ON THE STUDY OF THE CONCEPT TERM IN WORLD LINGUISTICS

In this article, the study of such terms as concept, conceptualization, categorization, conceptual semantics, linguistic semantics, microconcept, macroconcept, verbalizer, verbal means, non-verbal means, which are widely used in world linguistics, by linguists, as well as the opinions put forward by each scientist within the framework of terms are being studied. It is also explained that when a person understands, compares, compares and observes the realities of material existence, the term concept and the process of categorization are comprehended, a conceptual picture of the world composed of concepts is formed in his mind, and the expression of these concepts through the language units of certain language levels.

Feasibility and acceptability of an online intervention to enhance hopefulness among oncology professionals.

Patients prefer medical communication including both hopefulness and realism, though health-care professional (HCPs) struggle to balance these. Providers could thus benefit from a detailed personal understanding of hope, allowing them to model and convey it to patients. Additionally, given that hope is associated with lower levels of burnout, HCPs may benefit from tools designed to enhance their own personal hopefulness. Several investigators have proposed offering HCPs interventions to augment hope. We developed an online workshop for this purpose. Feasibility and acceptability of the workshop were assessed in members of the SWOG Cancer Research Network. Three measures were used: the Was-It-Worth-It scale, a survey based on the Kirkpatrick Training Evaluation Model, and a single item prompting participants to rate the degree to which they believe concepts from the workshop should be integrated into SWOG studies. Twenty-nine individuals signed up for the intervention, which consisted of a single 2-hour session, and 23 completed measures. Results from Was-It-Worth-It items indicate that nearly all participants found the intervention relevant, engaging, and helpful. Mean ratings for Kirkpatrick Training Evaluation Model items were high, ranging from 6.91 to 7.70 on 8-point scales. Finally, participants provided a mean rating of 4.44 on a 5-point scale to the item "To what degree do you believe it may be useful to integrate concepts from this workshop into SWOG trials/studies?" An online workshop to enhance hopefulness is feasible and acceptable to oncology HCPs. The tool will be integrated into SWOG studies evaluating provider and patient well-being.

Concept of Vocal Pedagogy by Valentyna Antoniuk in the Context of Ukrainian Vocal School Development

The purpose of the article is to reveal the theoretical foundations, pedagogical principles, and teaching methods of Valentyna Antoniuk in the context of the development of the Ukrainian vocal school. The research methodology is based on a complex combination of the historical and cultural method (in the comprehension of cultural and artistic factors in forming V. Antoniuk’s pedagogical concept in the context of the development of the national vocal school in Ukraine). The method of aesthetic and stylistic analysis are used in the disclosure of the characteristics of pedagogical principles and priorities in V. Antoniuk’s teaching activity. The novelty of the study consists in revealing the modern understanding of the "vocal school" phenomenon, which is connected with the individual creativity of the performer, asserting what is basic for the concept of V. Antoniuk’s vocal pedagogy, in the context of creative personalities’ professional features. Conclusions. V. Antoniuk's pedagogical attention is focused on the methods of sound production and sound science, singing breathing, the use of vocal apparatus resonators, principles of voice production, articulation and intonation foundations of performance, performing freedom and individual performing vision of an artistic image. Among the pedagogical priorities of training is the desire for a student's personal understanding of a vocal work, its artistic and semantic interpretation and filling the performance of the work with maximum detailing of various expressive means.
 Key words: Ukrainian vocal school, vocal pedagogy, vocal performance, ethnocultural traditions of performance.

A Psychological Study of Social Identity in Zadie Smith’s Swing Time

The search for identity is the central theme to numerous literary works, often following the protagonist or another protagonist. This research analyzes the protagonist's growth throughout Swing Time by Zadie Smith, which, like the majority of published psychological works, is motivated by a search for the individual's "authentic self." It's only appropriate that the protagonist of this author's fifth novel, is experiencing adolescence. The British author, Zadie Smith, uses her highly regarded novel Swing Time to probe questions of black people's racial identity and their connections to people of other races. This study also investigates the challenges faced by people of color in the entertainment industry, among critics, and in the pursuit of social and economic mobility. A strong sense of community is difficult for immigrant groups to establish. The difficulties that immigrant communities in contemporary Britain face in assimilating to mainstream culture are depicted in nuanced detail in Zadie Smith's Swing Time. The researcher concludes that the narrator's influence from family and her own lack of personal understanding explain her inability to adopt a tolerant and reasonable attitude when confronted with a multicultural society. Smith, who is a diasporic person, uses the protagonist's search for identity to highlight the importance of having a global perspective.

Typology of Epistemologies for Democratising Knowledge and Policy Benefits for All Mainstreamed by Doctoral-Study

<p style="text-align: justify;">Ursula von der Leyen identifies diverse classrooms have different knowledges and ‘epistemologies’. A typology of epistemologies for democratising knowledge ‘A Blueprint for Character Development for Evolution’ (ABCDE) is offered to mainstream policy benefits for all by Higher Education as hubs i) credentialing educational leaders by doctoral-study and ii) propelling networks of Professional Educators and Administrators Committees for Empowerment (PEACE) across professions credentialed by Higher Education and chaired by educational leaders. PEACE builds robust evidence bases to inform redesigning curriculums and culturally responsive pedagogies as policy benefits that empower students to use ABCDE with Assessment for Personal and Social Learning (APSL) to problem solve across the quadruple-helix. Education Outcomes include students’ self-management of personal and social understanding and wellbeing for resilience within sustainable circular, entrepreneurial, green and digitised economies with products and means of production regulated by professions credentialed by Higher Education. Impacts include communities developing responsible historical social consciousness to reinvigorate democratic governance, accountability, transparency, effectiveness and trustworthiness of rule-of-law based institutions and policies to expand active and inclusive citizenship empowered by safeguarding human rights. Further research, building on the powerful European Commission funded platform ‘DocEnhance’ is recommended to inform effective and efficient investment into high quality education and training.</p>

The Impacts of Visual Aids in Promoting the Learning Processes in Schools in Pakistan

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the impacts of visual aids in promoting the learning processes in schools in Pakistan.
 Methodology: The study adopted a desktop methodology. Desk research refers to secondary data or that which can be collected without fieldwork. Desk research is basically involved in collecting data from existing resources hence it is often considered a low cost technique as compared to field research, as the main cost is involved in executive’s time, telephone charges and directories. Thus, the study relied on already published studies, reports and statistics. This secondary data was easily accessed through the online journals and library.
 Findings: The findings of the study revealed the existence of a contextual and methodological gap relating to the impacts of visual aids in promoting the learning processes in schools. Preliminary empirical review found that using visual aids as a teaching aid stimulates thinking and improves the learning environment in the classroom. Effective use of visual aids substitutes monotonous learning environments. Students develop and increase personal understanding of the areas of learning when they experience a successful and pleasant learning in the classroom. Students find visual aids sessions useful and relevant when it has some direct relation to the course content.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: The Cognitive Load Theory may be used to anchor future studies on the impacts of visual aids in promoting the learning processes in schools in Pakistan. Schools and their administration must share the opinions of the students regarding the use of visual aids that will be helpful in enhancing the learning process. Refresher courses, workshops and conferences may be arranged for the teachers for improving their skills of using audio visuals to the needs of the students. There is need for the Ministry of Education to mount periodic training sessions for teachers who are already in the field to be retrained on recent discovery regarding the use of teaching/learning resources.

Evaluation of Learning Approaches among First-Year Medical and Dental Students of a Private University, in Malaysia

INTRODUCTION: Every learner has a way of interacting with the knowledge they have acquired, and this interaction is called a learning approach. Knowing the student's favorite learning methods will facilitate them with directions tailored to their unique needs. This study aims to measure the differences in learning approaches among first-year medical and dental students of a private university, in Malaysia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A three-month analytical cross-sectional study was undertaken among the interested students. The self-administered, validated ASSIST questionnaire was used to measure students’ preferred learning approaches. The Pearson correlation and independent sample t-test were used to analyze the data with SPSS software. The p-value was set at less than 0.05 to indsicate a significant level. RESULTS: A total of 225 students participated, out of which 150 (66.7%) respondents were medical students, and 75 (33.3%) were dental students. Medical students reported a favoured considerably deep learning approach over dental students (t=2.874, p=0.004), and preferred the strategic approach to learning (t=2.051, p=0.041). There was a weak and no significant correlation between the concept of learning (learning as reproducing knowledge [RK] p=0.377, learning involving personal understanding [PU] p=0.269), self-rating (p=0.824), and the surface learning approach. Both medical and dental students have no significant difference in surface learning approach with t =0.556 and p=0.579. CONCLUSION: Medical students favoured deep and strategic learning over dental students. While there was no significant difference in the surface learning approach, the deep and strategic learning approaches were substantially connected with the notion of learning, types of courses/teaching, and self-rating. The knowledge of learning approaches will assist educators in making efforts to address students through successful teaching strategies. Once teachers understand the need to accommodate individual strengths and needs, they will devise appropriate new teaching methods.

Proof of Work vs. Proof of Stake in Cryptocurrency

This research document demonstrates the understanding of two key elements: Proof of Work (PoW) and Proof of Stake (PoS) within cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency is often misunderstood as just volatile and risky but many investors do not understand what it even is. What is proof of work (BTC)? What is proof of stake (ETH)? How are they similar and how are they different? Cryptocurrency is actually more relatable that originally imagined once a person understands digital currency, money, it’s origins, and how they hold similar monetary value within their own wallets. Cryptocurrency in PoW involves complicated mathematical equation solving via mining from a large growing pool of miners. These miners receive rewards such as bitcoin/tokens/etc. from their mined hash blocks verified, and blocks added to the blockchain. Challenges are that there are many miners and there may be a computational limit per core of each PC to be able to mine since Bitcoin has increased its difficulty 70 billion times since it started. BTC or Bitcoin is still widely trusted due to its increasing difficulty to race to the finish line to finish the advanced math computations. Whereas within PoS this is not a race between the masses and advanced math computations, but a validator that generally has more put in their stake vs. gained by receiving the processing fees associated. ETH or Ethereum has shifted from PoW to PoS for its better energy efficiency in resources. It has employed many other additional checks from Casper to Gasper which is the combination of Casper (fork-choice algorithm), LMD-GHOST (heavest observed subtree), and finality which requires 2/3rd agreement as well as once a block is justified it is upgraded to a finalized block. the similarities between the two PoW and PoS are that they are consensus-driven algorithms. They are designed to reach an agreement between the systems in place before each block is placed in the blockchain. Additionally, they also have a shared public ledger that operates on a global if not international scale. With blockchains, there is always only one true version and this is relying on a network rather than a governing authority like a bank/government entity to provide security and to prevent fraudulent transactions. It is still widely contested which is better than these two well-known consensus algorithms and it is still widely contested. The best answer is suited on a per investor per business basis in terms of the willingness of taking a risk just like any investment. This document serves to help provide guidance in the understanding of cryptocurrency of two main consensus algorithms, its similarities, differences, and help identify see what a potential investor the reader may be.

The BESST REU: Promoting soil science learning and shifts in attitudes toward science

AbstractPrograms that emphasize the important, multifaceted roles that soils play as the interfaces between humanity and the earth are needed to attract new students from diverse backgrounds. The Basic and Environmental Soil Science Training Research Experience for Undergraduates (BESST REU) site aims to provide undergraduates from a variety of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines with a substantive research experience on modern soil science while developing professional and technical skills. Here, we examine data from the first five BESST cohorts pre‐ and post‐activity surveys, assessing effects of the experience on students’ research skills, knowledge about soil science, and science self‐efficacy. Results suggest that both program‐wide, common experiences, such as our geomorphology field camp, and specific, individual, mentored research experiences were important to student outcomes. Students experienced significant increases in their capacity to conduct research, knowledge about soil science, and confidence in carrying out scientific tasks. Further, qualitative data suggest that the program fundamentally impacted how students saw themselves and understood the task of “doing science.” Experiences provided by REU programs such as BESST are valuable to help students refine their personal goals and understanding of communication and collaboration within research. BESST also helped students to better understand and communicate the role of soil scientists.

ChatGPT applications in medical, dental, pharmacy, and public health education: A descriptive study highlighting the advantages and limitations.

Since its public release in November 2022, ChatGPT has gained a widespread attention and received mixed responses in the academia. Promising applications of ChatGPT in university education has been suggested; however, several concerns were raised. The aim of this descriptive study was to investigate the pros and cons of ChatGPT use in medical, dental, pharmacy, and public health education. Based on expert panel discussion and review of the existing literature, specific and concise ChatGPT prompts were constructed and the responses were generated on 25 February 2023. Out data suggested that in medical education, ChatGPT benefits included the possibility of improving personalized learning, clinical reasoning and understanding of complex medical concepts. The benefits listed in the context of dental education included improved skills through step- by-step instructions and interactive content, with instant feedback on student techniques. In pharmacy education, the advantages included possible explanations of complex subjects and the deployment of interactive tools aiding to develop skills for patient counselling. In public health education, the listed benefits included providing explanations and case scenarios, besides improved skills in data analysis and literature review. The limitations listed based on ChatGPT-generated content were common across all of the investigated healthcare disciplines and included data privacy issues, risk of generating biased and inaccurate content, and the risk of deterioration of critical thinking and communication skills among healthcare students. The ChatGPT-generated content in the context of healthcare education was deemed partially helpful by the expert panel. However, several important points regarding the pros and cons of ChatGPT use in medical, dental, pharmacy and public health education were missed by ChatGPT- generated content including: the risk of plagiarism, copyright issues, the risk of academic dishonesty, and the lack of personal and emotional interactions necessary for developing proper communication skills in healthcare education. In conclusion, despite the promising prospects of ChatGPT in healthcare education, several drawbacks should be addressed with implementation of guidelines for proper use to ensure exploiting the benefits of this innovative technology.

The Social Construction of Family Roles in Migrant Worker Income Management to Build Family Economy

This paper aims to explain the social construction of family roles in migrant workers’ income management. Many migrant worker families are unable to manage their income correctly. This social construction would affect the community by giving negative stigma to the families of migrant workers. This research was conducted using a descriptive method with a qualitative approach. The subjects were selected based on proportional sampling, namely people who live close to the families of migrant workers, extended families of migrant workers, and community leaders. The results of this study indicate that, in reality, some couples of migrant worker families can manage their income well, resulting in the income of migrant workers that does not have a meaningful impact on the family. The findings of this study contribute to developing a theory of social construction, where reality is the result of personal understanding, which is used as a shared understanding in the community. This shared understanding gives a new stigma to the reality of migrant worker families. The research limitation is that the data used are only obtained from subject interview data and case observations in the field, so the research findings limitedly describe the study of social construction in general. Future research that can be conducted based on this finding is investigating the effect of poor income management on the increasing migrant workers’ family disharmony.

Psychological and pedagogical directions and difficulties of improving modern education

Introduction. Many modern researchers and teachers are concerned about finding ways to overcome the number of difficulties of modern education. However, the numerous and diverse problems facing education are far from being solved.Purpose setting. The purpose of the study is to analyze the psychological and pedagogical aspects of improving modern education, those directions and difficulties of its development, which it has encountered in the modern world.Methodology and methods of the study. The research method is a theoretical analysis of psychological and pedagogical directions and the difficulties of improving modern education.Results. The discourse of modern «education» has changed significantly, it is rather difficult to compare the «educational practices of the past and the present, since they differ in their goals and values. The education of the past was the institution of cultural transmission, education and upbringing of a person. On the wave of the ideas of «humanization and individualization» of education, completely opposite ideas were actively introduced into it, the ideas of pragmatization of education, the goals of «education» eventually transformed the training and upbringing of a person into the training of a competent consumer and service personnel, that is, in a way that does not allow considering these two institutions as a whole.Conclusion. Prevention, correction and use of the stress of education, including the stress of innovation, are significant: it is important to build educational relationships in the spirit of focusing on understanding as awareness and mutual understanding as dialogue. It is important that the school and university develop a person's understanding of himself and the world, and, thus, increase the psychological well-being and life-affirming potential of a person. For this purpose educational relations should be enriched with models that allow subjects to be active and cooperate in solving problems that are urgent for them, realizing the model of intersubjective management both in the organization of education and in its process.

‘We are listening’ Mother-led research exploring inclusive communication between autistic young people and their families

This research engages Autoethnographic Participatory Action Research (APAR) to explore family communication within and between families of autistic young people in emerging adolescence. Autistic young people often have diverse ways of communicating and differences between family members’ communication can result in barriers to family interaction. Much of the existing research in communication in autistic young people within family settings centres around younger children and little is known, therefore, about communication in families of autistic children in middle childhood as they meet the challenges of adolescence. This parent-led study engaged mothers from five families as co-researchers to explore communication within their own families. The action-reflection cycle of the APAR methodology proved to be an effective vehicle for gaining deeper understandings of the young person’s unique situated communication. Findings presented in this article identify the importance of time and space as key enablers to inclusive communication within families.

Teaching for social justice in higher education: Reflexive and critical auto-ethnographic narratives of hope, resilience, and change

Government policies increasingly call for educators to teach for social justice. This paper presents auto-ethnographic narratives about how two higher education teacher educators aspire to teach with a focus on social justice education. This paper supports the role of reflexive and critical reflections of onto-epistemological beliefs in teacher educators’ work to give meaning to the wider social contexts, including the neo-liberal hegemonic higher education agendas, influencing their work. The narratives shared in this paper demonstrate how teaching with a social justice focus in higher education is a delicate balancing act, navigating personal beliefs and understandings about justice and inclusive knowledge.

Blonde (2022)

Blonde (2022)

Empowerment Education Programmed for Teenagers as Health Cadres On Reproductive Health Awareness in Bojonegoro, Indonesia

Puberty makes adolescents aware of their potential and become more expressive in exploring their sexual organs and behaviour. The increasing number of adolescent reproductive health issues, especially those related to personal hygiene, the provision of information, services and health education to adolescents is very important. The solution to the problem of lack of knowledge about the function of reproductive organs is done by increasing counselling on the introduction of the reproductive system, female personal hygiene, male personal hygiene, unwanted pregnancy and understanding STIs & HIV/AIDS by using the concepts of input, process, outcome and impact. The method used in community empowerment activities is in the form of counselling activities for adolescent health cadres at Al Munawar Islamic Boarding School as many as 30 students. The purpose of this community service is to increase the knowledge and skills of adolescent cadres through training and the formation of adolescent cadres aware of reproductive health at Pondok Pesantran Al Munawar Kunci Village, Dander Kab. Bojonegoro. After the provision of Health Education, the results of activities in the form of Increased knowledge obtained Pre test and Post test scores obtained. The average value of the Pre Test is 51.75 and the average Post test is 82.88, there is an increase in knowledge of 31.13% trainees, on Skills in Counseling or IEC on Adolescent Reproductive Health obtained The average value of IEC is 84.38 and the results are 66.7% very good results. The implication of this research is the active role of adolescents and the community in increasing Adolescent Health Knowledge about reproductive health so as to produce a healthy young generation in preparing their reproduction