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This paper examines whether the symbol Sophia can help sustain a path of dialogue between Christians and the followers of Dao. A close reading of Merton's Hagia Sophia and The Way of Chuang Tzu reveals three thematic similarities in his characterizations of Dao and Sophia as well as one significant difference. It also reveals a concrete sophianic stance for dialogue exemplified in Merton's relationship with John C. H. Wu and D. T. Suzuki. The paper concludes by suggesting that Sophia will be conducive to interreligious dialogue to the extent that it produces living exemplars who can assume a sophianic attitude toward dialogue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing interdisciplinary literature examines the role of hair textures and styles in Black and mixed‐race women's identity performances. Through an analysis of travel narratives, this paper extends and complements research on the context‐dependency of racialized identity performances. This paper presents an analysis of 24 qualitative interviews with Black and mixed‐race women in England and Germany. The question it seeks to answer is: 'How do changes in context alter Black and mixed‐race women's hairstyling practices as a performance of identity?' Navigating a novel context could lead the women to (1) conform to local standards of beauty and femininity, (2) resist external expectations, (3) try out novel performances and (4) negotiate the complex performance of belonging. All in all, this paper shows that Black and mixed‐race women dialogically re/negotiated and performatively re/created how they identify and how they are identified by others as they moved from one context to another. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study aimed to investigate COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, acceptance, and unmet informational needs in a cancer population during the first phase of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination rollout in Australia. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in a large tertiary hospital in Queensland, Australia, between 10 May and 31 July 2021. The survey assessed health beliefs, experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic, COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and informational needs. Results: COVID-19 was perceived to be a significant threat to both physical and mental health. While 57.9% (n = 110) of respondents believed the COVID-19 vaccines were safe and 64.2% (n = 122) believed they were effective, more than half (52.6%; n = 100) agreed that they worried about vaccine side effects. Most respondents (84.2%; n = 160) planned to receive the COVID-19 vaccine; however, feelings of hesitancy remained. There was a statistically significant association between those aged under 60 years (P = 0.003), those with previous vaccine hesitancy (P = 0.000), those who felt they had not received adequate information (P = 0.000) and vaccine hesitancy. Requested information pertained to interactions with cancer treatments, those with a history of blood clotting and information for those undergoing bone marrow transplantation. Conclusions: There is a need for tailored COVID-19 vaccine communication that is responsive to the concerns of people with cancer. This will be beneficial during current and future vaccination rollouts. What is known about topic? People with cancer are a COVID-19 vaccine priority group, as they are at increased risk of morbidity and mortality from this disease. There is currently a dearth of information regarding COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, acceptance, or informational needs for this population. What does this paper add? This paper has shown that although vaccine refusal rates were low in this population, feelings of hesitancy remained. Women, those in younger age categories, those with previous vaccine hesitancy and those who felt they had not received adequate information had stronger vaccine hesitancy and higher refusal rates. What are the implications for practitioners? There is a need for tailored information and open communication regarding COVID-19 vaccines and people with cancer. There is an opportunity to build upon established relationships of trust between cancer patients and their clinicians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Transforming occupational therapy (OT) practices and services to be more inclusive and political so that everyone has an opportunity to engage with meaningful occupations to advance their health and wellbeing is critical. An occupational justice framework locates occupations in a socio-cultural-historical context influencing the community or person's choice and participation. Communities marginalized due to socio-cultural-historical context struggle with participating in preferred occupations, which in turn affects their well-being and sense of self. Patriarchy, Gender binarism, Heteronormativity, Ableism, Casteism, and Classism are some dominant systems of oppression that affect how communities and people choose and participate in occupations. As occupational therapists and researchers, it becomes imperative to understand the experience of marginalized communities to contextualize interventions and evaluations to address the cultural practices of oppression. Objective: To understand how marginalized identity locations are represented in the Indian Journal of OT (IJOT). Study Design: A scoping review. Methods: Arksey and O'Malley's methodology was used to review research papers published in the IJOT from January 2012 to April 2022. Results: Disabled people have been the most represented in the last decade. Women's experiences are represented as lesser than that of men. Within studies focusing on disabilities, men's experiences are represented more than women's. There are two papers in the last decade that focus on Adivasi people. Lesbian, Gay, Trans, Queer, Intersex, Bisexual, and Asexual + communities are absent from OT research in the IJOT. Dalits and Bahujans are also absent from research. Few studies use the person-centered model of intervention by partnering with clients, whereas most studies use a medical model where the therapist is the only expert. Conclusion: In this study, we derive three themes to explore possible explanations on why marginalized communities are underrepresented. These themes of "unconscious bias," "history repeats itself" and "medical model of research" help us understand factors we need to reflect on as OT researchers and therapists as we engage with communities and people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Police officers are society's first interveners in intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) and are essential for victim safety. Despite IPVAW laws, police attitudes influence their real actions during IPVAW intervention. However, the fuzzy conceptualization of the construct deters the pursuit of conclusive evidence. This systematic review sought to identify the components of police attitudes toward intervention in IPVAW and their determinants. A search was conducted through several databases (e.g., Web of Science). Papers were included if they (a) provided original empirical findings or were review studies, (b) were published between 1990 and 2019, (c) were written in Spanish or English, (d) alluded to police officers, and (e) focused on police attitudes toward intervention in IPVAW or their determinants. Fifty-seven papers were included. The studied components of police attitudes toward intervention in IPVAW extracted from the literature were tolerance of IPVAW, minimal police involvement, unsupportive and supportive attitudes toward the legal system and legislation against IPVAW, understanding of the complex nature of abuse, and IPVAW intervention as an important police task. Moreover, the central role of individual and situational determinants in police attitudes toward intervention in IPVAW was confirmed, whereas organizational and societal determinants were studied scarcely. This review proposes a framework upon which to build operational definition of police attitudes toward intervention in IPVAW and includes remarks on police backgrounds and the situational characteristics of IPVAW events that are essential in shaping police procedures for managing them. Empirical evidence should be transferred to police training and standard operating procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on data obtained from Cantonese corpora and interactions in everyday contexts, this paper identifies and analyzes the range of pragmatic functions that the interrogative pronoun me1 has. Focusing on the subjective evaluative functions of me1 that go beyond interrogation, this present study attempts to suggest the development pathway of me1 becoming a negative stance marker. Derived from combining the interrogative pronoun mat1 'what' and the general noun je5 'thing' followed by phonological reduction, it is observed that me1 (< mat1je5) has gone a long way, from replacing an item of enquiry, to substituting for an unretrievable or unutterable item to avoid taboo and embarrassment, and further to a negative evaluative attitudinal marker that can occupy a range of syntactic positions (including the pre-nominal and clause-initial positions) to signal the speaker's disagreement and derogatory attitude, and finally to become an interrogative sentence-final particle which is essentially subjective and negatively biased. Adopting a broadly interactional linguistic perspective (Ochs et al., 1996; Selting and Couper-Kuhlen, 2001), our present study looks at how me1 can be used to negotiate interpersonal functions in the course of conversational interactions. Findings in this paper will have significant contributions to the study of wh- markers generally, and provide important insights into how extended functions of wh -markers can be developed in Sinitic languages specifically. • The Cantonese stancemarker me1 serves a range of pragmatic interpersonal functions. • Me1 has undergone the development: me1 < mat1je5 < mat1 "what" + je5 "thing". • Me1 has a negative valence. • Me1 can be used as an interrogative pronoun, a placeholder, and a negative evaluative marker. • Me1 as an interrogative sentence-final particle is essentially subjective and negatively biased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article traces the origin, sustenance and implications of a persistent rumour that is responsible for low measles mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination uptake in the Somali diaspora in a number of countries across the globe. The rumour stipulates that the MMR vaccine – the silent shot – causes autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Although the association between MMR and ASD is non-causal, and various public health initiatives have promoted health information campaigns, the rumour continues to circulate in the Somali diaspora in many countries, including Sweden. This paper shows that there are valid reasons for this. The findings from this paper draw on a systematic scoping review and qualitative interview data from Sweden. The results show that the Somali community experiences higher than average rates of ASD compared to the general population. Moreover, ASD does not exist in the Somali language or their home country, is considered a Western disease that only affects Somali children in the diaspora, and is a highly stigmatised disease. Also, the Somali diaspora has had negative experiences with ASD diagnosis and care. The rumour has been sustained by the absence of an answer to their ASD fear and through active diaspora networks on social media. The network that surrounds the rumour has arguably further helped to create an epistemic community for a community whose concerns have been silenced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to Universal Epistemic Deontology, all of our doxastic attitudes are open to deontological evaluations of obligation and permissibility. This view thus implies that we are responsible for all of our doxastic attitudes. But many philosophers have puzzled over whether we could be so responsible. This paper explores whether this puzzle can be resolved, and Universal Epistemic Deontology defended, by appealing to a view of responsibility it calls the Revelatory View. On that view, an agent is responsible for something when it reveals the kind of person the agent is. The paper explores four ways of developing the Revelatory View and argues that none of the views ultimately defends Universal Epistemic Deontology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper engages with Nathan Meyer’s (2022) paper ‘Finding Sites in Mediterranean Survey’. Building upon longstanding critiques of Mediterranean survey practices, Meyer argues for a re-direction of survey practices. We feel that several of his core arguments reflect an unbalanced view on the role of site and off-site data in Mediterranean surveys, conflating intensive and siteless surveys. Moreover, while these critiques seem to us unnecessarily negative regarding the analytical potential of off-site data, they also reflect an overconfident attitude towards the use of site data for comparative purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the role and significance of Interpersonal language meta-function in understanding and constructing language use and functions among language users in a business context in English and Central-Kurdish languages. In analyzing entrepreneurs' public speeches, the researchers employ the descriptive and qualitative approach with the content analysis. The instrument used in this study is to examine the qualitative exploratory data among entrepreneurs' public speech in business discourse in English and Central-Kurdish. The paper attempts to answer the following questions; What is the dominant mood type among the entrepreneurs in English and Central- Kurdish in business discourse? How does the use and selection of the personal pronoun by entrepreneurs in English and Central-Kurdish influence the interpersonal meta-function? and lastly, What are the frequency and occurrence of Attitudinal mode in the public speech of entrepreneurs concerning Type and possible Polarity? The findings show the information about the distribution of the results in regard to the mood types, the use and selection of personal pronouns and the frequencies of each attitudinal mode in an entrepreneur's public speech in English and Central Kurdish quantitatively. The study reveals that the prominent type of mood is declarative mood, besides the use and selection of the Personal Systems play a significant role in which the speaker expresses his attitude, influence and maintaining friendship and intimacy with the audience. The dominant personal pronoun is first personal system and the positive Affect mode exceeds other attitudinal modes both in English and Central-Kurdish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of this reflective paper is to signpost the importance of language of learning and teaching in a Teacher's Education course. It is then meant to decolonise the curriculum by tapping into the indigenous knowledge systems of the students. In view of this, the main aim of the Language of Learning and Teaching (LoLT) English is to bridge the gap between schools and Higher Education given the fact that a considerable number of students come to universities in South Africa unprepared or underprepared. LoLT gives students the opportunity to take ownership of their literacies, particularly academic writing through defamiliarization and co-construction of knowledge. Our reflections are based on first year students' experiences on the language of learning and teaching in the Senior Phase/ Further Education and Training (SP/ FET) in Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT). In light of this, our reflections are primarily focused on their ability to read and respond to selected texts where they were encouraged to interpret the texts based on their own perspectives. Most of the work was done in groups before individual assignment to factor in diversity in their interpretation bringing out the richness of the texts. The paper in conclusion, supports the belief and realization that once students are engaged to participate in unpacking a text, they come to understand that diversity is inevitable in whatever they do in life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The attitudes of the foreign missionaries in converting the indigenous people into Christianity in Africa, especially in Nigeria, implied denying polygamists and household of their faith and salvation in Christ Jesus. The non-Seventhday Adventist (non-SDA) Christian missionaries and the SDA missionaries put forward monogamy as the basis for conversion in their missiological enterprise which opposes polygamy. Though the SDA missionaries turned 'deaf ear' to people's queries on the church's official position and imposed their faith, there are still the presences of polygamists in the church. Based on this background, this paper therefore examines why the presence of polygamists in the church if not that the SDA missionaries 'attitudes must have tilted toward another trend other than the official position using a qualitative method focalizing analytical approach. This paper finds, among others, that the attitudes of the SDA missionaries, having asked polygamists to drop other wives, appeared hard, harsh, and racial yet polygamists are in the church. This study, among others, suggests that the SDA missionaries' attitudes should rather be characterized by love as it would not only influence positively the faith of the wives, that would have been dropped, but of their children, particularly, by according them the opportunity to grow in Christ onto maturity with others in the church. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Positive transformative leadership development practices in health care are perhaps the most important pathway that, collectively, can be pursued while heading towards a post-corona virus disease 2019 world, and race towards 2030. As a practitioner paper, based on front line and leadership experience, this study aims to argue that we need transformational leaders who will go beyond knowing to practice and implementation. While the findings from research is presented from different organisations and companies, they all have something in common – people. Hence, important lessons can be extrapolated to health-related organisations in the future. Design/methodology/approach: The approach is based on practical research findings based on the literature. The approach uses real practical examples from companies and organisations to demonstrate the need for a new, radical way forward. Findings: The findings from the literature clearly indicate that mindfulness-based transformative leadership development program is a worthwhile investment for decision-makers and organisations. A new transformative leader for the future of health care needs to be developed with care with investment in that development. Research limitations/implications: Implications of this paper show that health-care organisations need to begin this journey. There is a paucity in the literature to demonstrate the implementation of mindfulness-based transformative leadership development programs. Practical implications: Organisations of the future face even greater challenges brought about by intelligent technology, new pandemics and even tighter government regulation. The time to prepare for such eventualities is now. This is not a choice but an imperative for organisations to know what to do rather than react with regret. Originality/value: There is a paucity in the health-care literature that tracks, measures, and reports on the long-term results of a mindfulness-based transformative leadership development program. This needs to be addressed, and health care should be a leader in the field of mindfulness and transformative leadership of the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: General practitioners (GPs) play an important role in providing patients who smoke with health information, support and treatment to encourage them to quit smoking. Despite conflicting evidence on the effectiveness of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) as a smoking cessation aid, there is growing interest in the role e-cigarettes might play as an alternative to smoking tobacco. This systematic review aims to synthesise evidence from qualitative, quantitative and mixed-methods studies of the knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and social norms of GPs with respect to the use of e-cigarettes as smoking cessation aids. Methods: This study adhered to the PRISMA guidelines. Studies from MEDLINE, CINAHL, SCOPUS, PsycINFO, EMBASE and grey literature were searched. Two independent reviewers screened abstracts and full-text articles to identify studies that met the inclusion criteria. A data extraction form was used to extract relevant data from included papers and were quality appraised using the MMAT checklist. A PRISMA flow diagram was used to record the flow of papers and reasons for exclusion. Studies were included if they collected quantitative, qualitative or mixed methods data to determine knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and social norms of GPs for use of e-cigarettes as smoking cessation aids. Results: A total of 4056 abstracts were screened and 25 articles were included. Our findings showed that GPs had mixed views on recommending e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation aid. Some GPs were optimistic and had recommended e-cigarettes to their patients. Others were reluctant and disagreed that e-cigarettes are an effective method to quit smoking. Most GPs lacked knowledge and confidence in having discussions with patients around e-cigarette safety and efficacy as smoking cessation alternatives. Conclusion: This systematic review shows there are mixed views on e-cigarettes as smoking cessation aids. Clear guidance on the role of e-cigarettes is needed to inform and upskill GPs about e-cigarettes for smoking cessation. PROSPERO registration: CRD42021227612. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to report a study of how research literature addresses researchers' attitudes toward data repository use. In particular, the authors are interested in how the term data sharing is defined, how data repository use is reported and whether there is need for greater clarity and specificity of terminology. Design/methodology/approach: To study how the literature addresses researcher data repository use, relevant studies were identified by searching Library Information Science and Technology Abstracts, Library and Information Science Source, Thomas Reuters' Web of Science Core Collection and Scopus. A total of 62 studies were identified for inclusion in this meta-evaluation. Findings: The study shows a need for greater clarity and consistency in the use of the term data sharing in future studies to better understand the phenomenon and allow for cross-study comparisons. Furthermore, most studies did not address data repository use specifically. In most analyzed studies, it was not possible to segregate results relating to sharing via public data repositories from other types of sharing. When sharing in public repositories was mentioned, the prevalence of repository use varied significantly. Originality/value: Researchers' data sharing is of great interest to library and information science research and practice to inform academic libraries that are implementing data services to support these researchers. This study explores how the literature approaches this issue, especially the use of data repositories, the use of which is strongly encouraged. This paper identifies the potential for additional study focused on this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Appleby New Fair has been a significant event in the Gyspy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) calendar for over 100 years. Because of the Fair, the town of Appleby in Cumbria (England) has become a "mecca", 'sacred' to GRT communities. Yet new legislation has put the Fair's future in doubt, making it illegal to 'reside or intend to reside on land without the permission of the owner or occupier'. This legislation therefore threatens both an event and a way of life. This paper focuses on the Appleby New Fair, but not from the perspective of the GRT communities. Rather, this study is focused on local perceptions of the Fair and specifically therefore those 'owners and occupiers' in whose hands the future of the Fair will likely rest. The paper presents the results of a questionnaire survey conducted amongst local residents in 2021, concluding that the Fair does not have local support. In reaching this conclusion, the survey revealed significant information around perceptions of authenticity and heritage, touching also on identity and tradition, thus extending the implications of this study far beyond Appleby. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that the classification of propositional attitudes into the de re, de dicto, and de se is incomplete. De se attitudes are widely agreed to be closely connected to de re attitudes. But there is a species of belief that is linked to agent‐centered action in the way that de se beliefs are, but is also associated with entities, places, and especially times, under a description. These mark out a fourth kind. One way to think about what makes them distinctive is that, despite being 'essentially indexical' they can be retained across different contexts of evaluation without having diagonal content. The paper also discusses the connection between such beliefs and the kinds of utterances (like 'Don't put off for tomorrow what you can do today') that are contested as examples of what David Kaplan called 'monsters.' [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper reports on trends in language testing taking place over the years and aim at critical perspectives of testing and promoting inclusion, equity and justice. It begins with critical theories by Messick, Foucault and Bourdieu, leading to critical language testing (CLT) which focused on consequences and uses of tests. Given the power of tests and their detrimental effects questions were raised regarding the impact of language tests on individuals and society. Based on theories of sociolinguistics and applied linguistics it was realized that bi‐multilingual students, especially immigrants in the first years of migration and beyond continue to use their first languages as resources for academic functioning, referring to it as their 'full language repertoire'. These languages are needed especially when processing academic school tests, presented in the new language which students have not yet acquired. The paper reports on studies where immigrant students are tested in multilingual tests and reach significantly high scores compared to those tested only in the new language. In experiments, using a variety of tools, students showed positive attitude to the procedure as they felt recognition and respect. Multilingual tests need to be practiced in schools to avoid language rights violations. Multimodal assessment methods are also proposed as additional ways for expanding the underpinnings of language construct. Lastly, it is recommended that language testing researchers and practitioners conduct research to identify cases of violate language rights and suggest new assessment models to overcome it, leading to increased social justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Expressive terms (damn, fuck, bastard) are said to convey speakers’ attitudes and feelings. These can be positive or negative, depending on the context. In this paper, I focus on the property of expressives that I take to be of the most importance: descriptive ineffability. Descriptive ineffability is a property of expressive terms for which no suitable descriptive paraphrase can be found that captures the full meaning of the expressive. In the face of arguments that attempt to show either that descriptive terms also carry this feature or that expressives (at least in some instances) can be effable, I defend the idea that descriptive ineffability is unique to expressives. I end the paper by considering what descriptive ineffability can teach us about expressive terms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article aims to provide an overview of the interrelationships between public knowledge, attitudes, and practical behaviours in the context of a global pandemic and the risk management measures used by the government. By reviewing some of the key trends in crisis management in Lithuania, it seeks to explore the response of society. The aim of the paper is to analyse the interrelationship among subjective public informativeness, attitudes, and behaviours according to different socio-demographic aspects. To meet the main objective of the paper, a representative public survey (N-804) on attitudes towards COVID-19 was conducted (at the end of 2020). The survey sought to explore individual self-protection measures, attitudes towards the dangerousness of the virus, the measures used by the government to combat the pandemic, and prevalent stereotypes and their implications on personal behaviour. The paper discusses the indicators, which are divided into separate blocks, on the basis of which the responses of the study participants are summed up and evaluated on a three-level (good, average, poor) rating scale, followed by correlation analyses on various socio-demographic parameters. The survey revealed that a higher proportion of Lithuanian society behaved responsibly, even being moderately informed and characterised by diverse attitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to explore when and why consumers hold inconsistent and consistent choices between self- and gift-purchases. Design/methodology/approach: Across three paper-based questionnaire experiments, the authors examine how consumers' preferences for desirability and feasibility vary with purchase types (self- vs gift-purchases) based on the functional theories of attitudes. The authors examine consumers' attitude functions and their self-monitoring closely associated with chronic attitude functions. Findings: The findings show that the social adjustive function moderates whether consumers hold consistent or inconsistent preferences across the two purchases. Specifically, consumers generally rely more on desirability in gift-purchases than self-purchases, whereas this inconsistent preference only exists when the social adjustive function is comparable or advantaged to the utilitarian function. When the social adjustive function is significantly disadvantaged relative to the utilitarian function, consumers consistently prefer feasibility irrespective of self- or gift-purchases. Research limitations/implications: The research contributes to the familiar topic of consumers' choice trade-offs between self- and gift-purchases. It documents the moderating role of the social adjustive function of consumers' attitudes in whether they hold consistent or inconsistent choices across the two purchases. This extends the extensive research on self-other decisions. Practical implications: The findings strongly suggest retailers identify or manipulate consumers' attitude functions to make the attitude functions align with the purchase type when recommending products. Originality/value: Most relevant literature focuses on exploring choice differences between self- and gift-purchases. This research not only explores the choice differences but also attempts to find the condition under which people's choices do not differ between the two purchases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In practice, the near-bit drilling tool confronts with strong vibrations and high-speed rotation. Therein the original signal amplitude of the tool attitude measurements is relatively feeble, and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is exceptionally low. To handle this issue, this paper proposes a weak SNR signal extraction method, frequency selecting complementary ensemble empirical mode decomposition, which is based on ensemble empirical mode decomposition combining with complementary noise and frequency selecting. This method firstly adds different positive and negative pairs of auxiliary white noise to the original near-bit weak SNR signal, secondly adopts empirical mode decomposition on each pair of noise-added signals, then performs ensemble averaging on the obtained multiple sets of intrinsic mode function (IMF) to output more stable IMF of each order and set suitable weights according to designed frequency threshold, and finally reconstructs the original useful signal through weighted summing IMFs. Simulation results show that the extraction accuracy of well inclination angle ranges about ± 0.51°, and the extraction accuracy of tool face angle ranges about ± 1.35°, and meanwhile experimental results are provided compared with other advanced methods, which verifies the effectiveness of our method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The anti‐natalist philosopher David Benatar defends a position asserting that all life is harmful, and that it is, therefore, wrong to have children. In this paper, I critique Benatar's less‐discussed claim that his anti‐natalism provides solutions to population ethics problems, such as the Non‐Identity Problem, the Repugnant Conclusion, and the Mere Addition Problem, all of which are presented in Derek Parfit's Reasons and Persons. Since the publication of his Better Never to Have Been, Benatar has continued to claim that its provision of such solutions strengthens his defense of anti‐natalism. Although Benatar's view has received much criticism, this argument has not been discussed at length. I undertake a thorough examination of the argument and identify reasons to reject it. The central point of my critique is that the implications of Benatar's views in determining ranges of wrong and not‐wrong cases of procreation are extensionally inadequate when applied to the problems of population ethics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a case study to support the hypothesis that religiosity and spirituality (R/S), as mood balancing factors, could facilitate the recovery process for patients suffering from bipolar disorder (BD) once they have been stabilized and are receiving appropriate support (e.g., in a residential rehabilitative center). After a succinct review of BD and R/S, the patient's medical history and rehabilitation pathway are described, with a particular focus on the role played by R/S. The authors found that in this case, once the patient was stabilized, R/S helped to consolidate her feelings of well-being, increasing her positive perception of social support services and ultimately her self-confidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unique nature and environment of the Vietnamese Mekong Delta as well as its agricultural production and its traditional lifestyle are endangered by a rising sea level and increasing salinization of the ground and surface water. This paper aims at the assessment of Vietnamese people's information on and attitudes towards these problems as well as their respective convictions and beliefs. Imbedded in an online survey with 2000 completed interviews we also conducted a Contingent Valuation study with which we want to assess people's willingness to contribute personally and financially to saving the Mekong Delta as an indication of the benefits they would expect from such a project. We interviewed three different groups of respondents, one of which lives directly in the Mekong Delta, a second lives outside the Delta, but close to it, that is in Ho Chi Minh City, and the third group lives far away from the Delta in Hanoi. With these three subsamples of respondents we wanted to capture not only the use benefits but also the nonuse benefits accruing from such a project. In the course of the interviews, we found that the Mekong Delta is of great interest and importance to all interviewees, no matter in which part of Vietnam they live. They were mostly well informed on the problems there and had strong opinions on the causes of these problems as well as on suitable strategies to fight them. In our Contingent Valuation study, we assessed the willingness of people at the different study sites to contribute financially to a hypothetical project for the preservation of the Mekong Delta and the socio‐economic, attitudinal and psychological determinants of this willingness. Besides these empirical findings, we also obtained valuable insights regarding various methodological aspects of Contingent Valuation studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the contested identity and belonging for outsider-children in Kenya. I explore the experience of children born out of marriage, those from other unions, the emergent insider-outsider child and children labouring to belong. Locating this experience in a relatively protective customary and legal regime, the context of poverty and the local imaginaries of belonging reveals the complexities that animate children's lives. I argue that children's best interests as embedded in law, should enter into conversation with children's lived realities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Time perspective (TP) offers a new understanding of human personality, postulating that there are individual differences in how our mind assigns our experiences to different time categories. This concept may shed new light on the role of personality traits in shaping vulnerability to the internalized stigma. In this paper we propose a novel approach to clarifying the underpinning of self-stigma by empirically exploring its links with TP. We conducted a cross-sectional study among 86 patients with ICD-10 diagnoses of paranoid schizophrenia to validate the predictive role of TP for self-stigma. We used the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI), Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness scale (ISMI) and Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS). We found significant positive correlations of self-stigma with Past-Negative, Future-Negative and Present-Fatalistic TP categories and negative correlation with the Future-Positive category. The hierarchical regression analyses revealed that two TP categories and Deviation from the Balanced Time Perspective (DBTP) are significant predictors of self-stigma over and above sociodemographic and clinical control variables. Conclusion. The results of the study confirm the hypothesis that TP opens new possibilities to understand proneness or resistance to self-stigmatization, and this may provide a basis for novel approaches to anti-self-stigma interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the case of missing persons in Israel, to show how the category of "missingness" is constructed by the people who have been left behind, and how this may threaten the life-death dichotomy assumption. The field of missing persons in Israel is characterized not only by high uncertainty, but also by the absence of relevant cultural scripts. Based on a narrative ethnography of missingness in Israel, I claim that a new and subversive social category of "missingness" can be constructed following the absence of cultural scripts. The left-behinds fluctuate not only between different assumptions about the missing person's fate; they also fluctuate between acceptance of the life-death dichotomy, thus yearning for a solution to a temporary in-between state, and blurring this dichotomy, and thus constructing "missingness" as a new stable and subversive ontological category. Under this category, new rites of passage are also negotiated and constructed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Utilizing Arduino development boards for learning microcontroller circuits is a prevalent practice across various educational levels. Nevertheless, the literature offers limited insights into the impact of these boards on student performance and attitudes. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate the performance of 58 university students in learning microcontroller circuits with modular boards designed for Arduino through a series of 4 exercises. Specifically, students' performance is assessed through pre-tests and post-tests, in three learning units: (a) microcontroller, (b) coding, and (c) circuit. Additionally, the study captures students' attitudes and measures their perceived usability of modular boards. For this purpose, the students completed a specially designed attitude questionnaire and the system usability scale (SUS) questionnaire. Statistical analysis is conducted using t-tests, ANOVA, and ANCOVA, along with bootstrapping. The findings reveal statistically significant differences between pre-tests and post-tests in all cases. Among the three learning units, the use of modular boards appears to have the most significant impact on coding. Based on students' responses, the SUS results indicate that modular boards appear to be a quite usable approach for teaching microcontrollers. Finally, students generally express positive attitudes toward modular boards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Disparities in the uptake of routine and COVID‐19 vaccinations have been observed in migrant populations, and attributed to issues of mistrust, access and low vaccine confidence. Participatory research approaches and behaviour change theory hold the potential for developing tailored vaccination interventions that address these complex barriers in partnership with communities and should be explored further. Methods: This study used a theory‐informed, community‐based participatory research approach to co‐design a culturally tailored behaviour change intervention aimed at increasing COVID‐19 vaccine uptake among Congolese migrants in London, United Kingdom (2021–2022). It was designed and led by a community‐academic partnership in response to unmet needs in the Congolese community as the COVID‐19 pandemic started. Barriers and facilitators to COVID‐19 vaccination, information and communication preferences, and intervention suggestions were explored through qualitative in‐depth interviews with Congolese migrants, thematically analysed, and mapped to the theoretical domains framework (TDF) and the capability, opportunity, motivation, behaviour model to identify target behaviours and strategies to include in interventions. Interventions were co‐designed and tailored in workshops involving Congolese migrants. Results: Thirty‐two Congolese adult migrants (24 (75%) women, mean 14.3 (SD: 7.5) years in the United Kingdom, mean age 52.6 (SD: 11.0) years) took part in in‐depth interviews and 16 (same sample) took part in co‐design workshops. Fourteen barriers and 10 facilitators to COVID‐19 vaccination were identified; most barrier data related to four TDF domains (beliefs about consequences; emotion; social influences and environmental context and resources), and the behavioural diagnosis concluded interventions should target improving psychological capability, reflective and automatic motivations and social opportunities. Strategies included culturally tailored behaviour change techniques based on education, persuasion, modelling, enablement and environmental restructuring, which resulted in a co‐designed intervention comprising community‐led workshops, plays and posters. Findings and interventions were disseminated through a community celebration event. Conclusions: Our study demonstrates how behavioural theory can be applied to co‐designing tailored interventions with underserved migrant communities through a participatory research paradigm to address a range of health issues and inequalities. Future research should build on this empowering approach, with the goal of developing more sensitive vaccination services and interventions which respond to migrant communities' unique cultural needs and realities. Patient or Public Contribution: Patient and public involvement (PPI) were embedded in the participatory study design and approach, with community members co‐producing all stages of the study and co‐authoring this paper. An independent PPI board (St George's Migrant Health Research Group Patient and Public Involvement Advisory Board) comprising five adult migrants with lived experience of accessing healthcare in the United Kingdom were also consulted at significant points over the course of the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the issue of verbal behaviour which, being neither markedly polite nor markedly impolite nor simply politic, is interpersonally ambivalent. It focuses on what are known as mock impolite utterances (in which a positive attitude to the addressee(s) masquerades as a negative one). Through the detailed analysis of one attested utterance, it shows that apparently non-serious utterances of this kind can be more than simply the opposite of their surface realisations, that they can contain within them varying degrees of 'seriousness', so that interpretation of them is not just a binary matter of serious versus non-serious. It proceeds to propose that we can go some way to capturing this complexity by recognising that (non)seriousness operates on at least two dimensions – the affective and the propositional – and moreover that the precise degree of (non)seriousness of an utterance on each dimension is independent of the other. Two further examples are briefly examined to illustrate this variability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to cannabidiol's health benefits and absence of serious side effects, its use is constantly growing. This is a survey-based cross-sectional study that was conducted to determine Croatian pharmacists', physicians', and students' knowledge and attitudes about cannabidiol (CBD). Two questionnaires were created, one for students and the other for physicians and pharmacists. Our participants (in total 874: 473 students and 401 physicians and pharmacists) generally had positive attitudes towards CBD therapy as approximately 60% of them believe that CBD treatment is generally efficacious. Participants had positive attitudes toward the therapeutic value of CBD, especially pharmacists and pharmacy students (63.8% and 72.2%, respectively). Pharmacists were significantly more convinced that CBD could reduce the use of opioids prescribed for chronic pain (p < 0.05). Only 17.5% of students had read scientific papers about CBD, compared to a significantly higher percentage of physicians and pharmacists (43.0% and 47.8%, respectively) (p < 0.05). This study revealed a gap in knowledge regarding CBD, since 89.3% of pharmacists and physicians, as well as 84.8% of students, believe they need more education about CBD. We conclude that it is important to improve the educational curricula so that medical professionals can recommend CBD use to their patients when needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decisions under uncertainty are often made with information whose interpretation is uncertain because multiple interpretations are possible. Individuals may perceive and handle uncertainty about interpretation differently and in ways that are not directly observable to a modeler. This paper identifies and experimentally examines behavior that can be interpreted as reflecting an individual's attitude toward such uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has demonstrated the economic effectiveness of welfare state reforms that follow the Danish flexicurity model, broadly specifying the combination of highly flexible labor market policies and generous protection schemes. Notwithstanding, it has also been argued that large and generous welfare states may erode civic attitudes, defined here as people's willingness to cheat on taxes and claim transfers to which they are not entitled. Combining data from all available waves of the World Values Survey and the European Values Study with a self-constructed flexicurity index, this paper finds that welfare state reforms involving a combination of higher benefits, lower labor market regulations, and active labor market policies are not significantly associated with an erosion of civic attitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the problem of attitude tracking in quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) using a model-free online learning control (MFOLC) scheme. The attitude system, which is represented by unit quaternions, is considered in the presence of uncertain and unknown inertia parameters, time-varying external disturbances, and angular velocity measurement noise. A computationally low-cost control scheme consisting of a model-free baseline controller and a module capable of learning from previous control input is designed. The proposed controller does not require precise inertial parameters and does not involve feedforward terms that use these parameters and true system states. This ensures that the approach can protect the control effort from sensor noise as well as parameter uncertainty. We also show that all the signals in the closed-loop system are uniformly ultimately bounded. Comparative simulations and real-world experiments are conducted for validation, which demonstrate the effectiveness and fine performance of the proposed scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The thermal problem of high-altitude airships has an essential impact on position control and energy system performance. Adjusting the airship's attitude angle causes differences in thermal performance during position alterations. This paper studies an airship's energy and thermal performance under variable attitudes. We establish an airship solar radiation and thermal model to analyze power output under different thermal conditions. The thermal performance of airships at varying pitch angles is investigated using computational fluid dynamic (CFD) software (Fluent V6.3.26). To determine the optimal distribution of pitch angles under various conditions, we have developed an optimization model that considers both the presence and absence of thermal influence. We have also assessed the impact of airship geometric parameters on the optimal pitch angle, considering the diversity of airship shapes. Our results demonstrate that pitch angle alterations significantly influence airships' temperature and flow field distribution. But the degree of necessity of considering the thermal effect in calculating the optimal pitch angle distribution varies depending on the date and latitude, with the most vital need observed during low-latitude summer and the weakest during high-latitude winter. The findings of this research have significant reference value in selecting operation strategies and the control of operating performance for high-altitude airships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the orientation of evidentials in complements of attitude verbs, with Paraguayan Guarani evidential ra'e as a case study. It argues that embedded evidentials can be directed either towards the speaker or towards a matrix attitude-holder argument (e.g., the subject of the attitude verb) and that a syntactic representation of the evidence-acquisition event, with its pronominal subject, in the lower end of the CP field, is well-poised to capture this potential ambiguity. Language-particular properties can also play a determining role in the orientation of the embedded evidential, as is the case of the subordinator ha in Paraguayan Guarani. It is argued that this subordinator requires the presence of a Complementizer specified with a (strong) Modal component (which encodes certainty/commitment on the part of the attitude holder with respect to the embedded proposition) and that this property biases the orientation of ra'e towards the matrix attitude-holder argument. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research on attitudes toward obesity has mainly focused on the effects of people's negative attitudes about obesity on others. However, it remains unclear whether people's explicit attitudes toward obesity may influence their own life satisfaction. This cross-sectional study investigated whether and how individuals' explicit negative attitudes toward obesity influence their own life satisfaction among Chinese adolescents. A total of 310 high school students from Hunan province, China, were invited to voluntarily complete a paper-and-pencil questionnaire, including the Attitudes Toward Obese Persons scale, the Fatness subscale of the Negative Physical Self Scale, and the Satisfaction With Life Scale. We also collected participants' self-reported body height and weight. The results revealed that adolescents with more negative explicit attitudes about obesity reported lower levels of life satisfaction, and that this relationship was mediated by their greater weight dissatisfaction. Additionally, weight status moderated the association between explicit attitudes toward obesity and one's life satisfaction, whereby more negative explicit attitudes toward obesity predicted lower life satisfaction in adolescents with a body mass index one standard deviation higher than the mean (21.00 + 3.35), but not for adolescents with a body mass index one standard deviation lower than the mean (21.00-3.35). Implications of the current research and directions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The widespreadness of video games, particularly among digital natives, requires ongoing exploration of their profound effects. This study aligns with this need, investigating video games as possible tools for positive societal influence and exploring their potential to address sensitive social issues. Transportation theory underscores the transformative potential of video games, casting players as "travellers" who, traversing stages of reality dissolution, emotional connection, and altered return, present a pathway for attitude transformation. Participants (N = 98) engaged with "Survival," "Paper, Please," and "Against All Odds" to explore the effectiveness of video games in addressing the refugee crisis, increasing awareness of the issue at hand, changing perceptions, and encouraging them to take action in real life. The study's results align with integrated threat theory, revealing that immersive gaming experiences can induce significant changes in attitudes, decrease denial, and increase empathy. The results highlight the potential of video games to educate people about pressing global issues and invoke empathy without trivialising problems. Consequently, while this study extends the current body of knowledge, it offers some promising directions for further research to validate the affirmative impact of video games in this realm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the impact of green advertising and eco-labels on the attitudes and environmental awareness of millennials purchasing eco-friendly products in shopping centers across Ecuador. The research utilized a quantitative, correlational, cross-sectional methodology with 430 millennials participating. A 20-item survey was administered face-to-face at shopping centers in Quito and Guayaquil, Ecuador. The validity of the research model was established through Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), employing SPSS 20 and AMOS 24 for statistical evaluations. Findings reveal that green advertising significantly shapes environmental attitudes (β: 0.245) and awareness (β: 0.110), as well as directly influences the purchasing behavior (β: 0.154) towards green products. While eco-labels do not exert a direct effect on purchasing behavior (β: 0.128), they significantly inform attitudes (β: 0.406) and ecological awareness (β: 0.277) of millennials who purchase organic products. This paper is among the pioneering research to delineate the correlation between green advertising elements and the purchasing patterns of green products among millennials in a developing nation. It concludes that marketing strategies centered on green advertising and eco-labels do affect millennials' attitudes and environmental consciousness, but only advertising has a direct impact on purchasing behaviors, contrary to eco-labels. The research bears social significance as it affirms that millennials are attentive to environmental issues and are actively engaged in promoting sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While reformers view police training as an important means for improving performance, the training evidence base has historically been weak. Little research has focussed on how training impacts both attitudes and behaviour in the field, and the extent to which changes in attitudes following a training program are linked to officer behaviour in the field. This paper uses data from a multi-site randomized trial of procedural justice training in hot spots to assess the attitude–behaviour link. We ask to what extent do officers' attitudes about procedural justice impact their behaviour in the field? We find no support for officer baseline attitudes being predictive of their use of procedural justice with the public. But for trained officers, we do find evidence that attitudes following training are related to behaviour in observed interactions in the field. We conclude with a discussion of the implications for police training and training evaluation studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There exist ongoing calls among social work scholars and practitioners to cultivate applied knowledge of critical and emancipatory practice. In this paper, I explore the utility of text-based vignettes as instruments that can be used to elicit insight from marginalized service users on critical social work practice. To do this work, I draw on data from interviews with 20 transgender and gender diverse (TGD) social service users, along with 10 social workers, whose responses to a text-based vignette were originally used to build an understanding of the constituents of equitable social work practice with TGD people. Incorporating critical pragmatism as a conceptual framework and constructivist grounded theory as a methodological orientation, I analyze data from this study as an exemplar that substantiates the promise of using text-based vignettes in qualitative social work research to generate knowledge of critical social work practice. Specifically, I demonstrate how text-based vignettes in this study (1) contextualized the meaning, significance, and impact of oppression for service users, (2) built insight on practice that reflects solidarity and allyship, and (3) identified opportunities for social workers' reflexive use of professional power to effect change. Accounting for the tensions between empiricism and critical praxis in social work, I consider the promise of incorporating text-based vignettes to develop empirical social work literature that is rooted in the voices of marginalized service users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses Spanish citizens' views of public service expenditure, related to their socio-demographic characteristics, values and political economic conjunctures. The study's contributions are: 1) Bringing the analysis up to the present time, including the COVID and post COVID periods; 2) Analysing the determinants by using a multivariate regression analysis; and 3) Studying the relationship between assessments of public service expenditure and actual spending, identifying significant patterns, especially in education and healthcare. The results obtained are robust, especially for welfare policy assessments. Important sociological changes in the assessment of public policies are identified and additional evidence is provided about the highly important role played by cultural values ("symbolic predispositions") with respect to "self-interest" in explaining the assessment of public spending. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID‐19 pandemic has caused disruptive changes across different life experiences essential to children's growth and development, including early childcare services and schools, thus threatening precious opportunities for children in early childhood to learn. The pandemic has also undermined the collaborative and alliance relationship between childcare services and families which has been widely considered an important aspect of modern services. This paper presents and discusses results from a mixed‐method exploratory study with early childcare services for children between 0 and 6 years in Italy in 2021, involving both teachers and parents, to understand experiences, educational practices put in place in childcare services, feelings, resources and risks perceived by families and teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers a Nietzschean theory of emotion as expressed by following thesis: paradigmatic emotional experiences exhibit a distinctive kind of affective intentionality, specified in terms of felt valenced attitudes towards the (apparent) evaluative properties of their objects. Emotional experiences, on this Nietzschean view, are therefore fundamentally feelings towards value. This interpretation explains how Nietzschean affects can have evaluative intentional content without being constituted by cognitive states, as these feelings towards value are neither reducible to, nor to be thought along the lines of, judgements, perceptions, or other mental states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On January 6th, 2021, Donald Trump's speech during a 'Save America' rally was followed by mass violence, with Trump's supporters storming the U.S. Capitol to prevent the certification of Joe Biden's victory in the presidential election. In its wake, there was a great deal of debate around whether the speech contained direct instructions for the subsequent violence. In this paper, we use a social identity perspective on leadership (and more specifically, on toxic leadership) to analyse the speech and see how its overall argument relates to violence. We show that Trump's argument rests on the populist distinction between the American people and elites. He moralises these groups as good and evil respectively and proposes that the very existence of America is under threat if the election result stands. On this basis he proposes that all true Americans are obligated to act in order prevent Biden's certification and to ensure that the good prevails over evil. While Trump does not explicitly say what such action entails, he also removes normative and moral impediments to extreme action. In this way, taken as a whole, Trump's speech enables rather than demands violence and ultimately it provides a warrant for the violence that ensued. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an analysis of identity leadership (Haslam et al., The new psychology of leadership: Identity, influence and power, Routledge, 2020) in the 1988 'Candlelight Demonstration' in Bratislava which was a precursor to the 1989 Velvet Revolution. The analysis is based on interviews with the five remaining leaders of the demonstration and addresses three core issues. First, how leaders use performative means (identity impresarioship) as well as limited rhetorical means (identity entrepreneurship) to assemble protestors and create a sense of shared identity amongst them. Second, how these strategies of mobilization are linked to the highly repressive context in which the demonstration took place. Third, we analyse the extent to which these strategies are rooted in a psychological understanding of the processes of mobilization. We conclude by addressing the implications for our general understanding of leadership and the mobilization of collective action and the need for more research into these processes under conditions of repression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]