Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada: An Ethical Analysis of Conscientious and Religious Objections

Article

Comparing international television news : the case of violence presentation in Germany, Great Britain and Russia -- [in German : Gewalt in internationalen Fernsehnachrichten - eine komparative Analyse medialer Gewaltpräsentation in Deutschland, Großbritannien und Russland]

This is an important book that ought to launch a debate about how we research our understanding of the world, it is an innovative intervention in a vital public issue, and it is an elegant and scholarly hard look at what is actually happening. Jean Seaton, Prof of Media History, U of Westminster, UK & Official Historian of the BBC -- Summary: This book investigates the question of how comparative studies of international TV news (here: on violence presentation) can best be conceptualized in a way that allows for crossnational, comparative conclusions on an empirically validated basis. This book shows that such a conceptualization is necessary in order to overcome existing restrictions in the comparability of international analysis on violence presentation. Investigated examples include the most watched news bulletins in Great Britain (10o'clock news on the BBC), Germany (Tagesschau on ARD) and Russia (Vremja on Channel 1). This book highlights a substantial cross-national violence news flow as well as a cross-national visual violence flow (key visuals) as distinct transnational components. In addition, event-related textual analysis reveals how the historical rootedness of nations and its symbols of power are still manifested in televisual mediations of violence. In conclusion, this study lobbies for a conscientious use of comparative data/analysis both in journalism research and practice in order to understand what it may convey in the different arenas of today’s newsmaking.

Examining the use of bid information in predicting the contractor’s performance

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the use of bid information, including both price and non-price factors in predicting the bidder’s performance. Design/methodology/approach – The practice of the industry was first reviewed. Data on bid evaluation and performance records of the successful bids were then obtained from the Hong Kong Housing Department, the largest housing provider in Hong Kong. This was followed by the development of a radial basis function (RBF) neural network based performance prediction model. Findings – It is found that public clients are more conscientious and include non-price factors in their bid evaluation equations. With the input variables used the information is available at the time of the bid and the output variable is the project performance score recorded during work in progress achieved by the successful bidder. It was found that past project performance score is the most sensitive input variable in predicting future performance. Research limitations/implications – The paper shows the inadequacy of using price alone for bid award criterion. The need for a systemic performance evaluation is also highlighted, as this information is highly instrumental for subsequent bid evaluations. The caveat for this study is that the prediction model was developed based on data obtained from one single source. Originality/value – The value of the paper is in the use of an RBF neural network as the prediction tool because it can model non-linear function. This capability avoids tedious ‘‘trial and error’’ in deciding the number of hidden layers to be used in the network model. Keywords Hong Kong, Construction industry, Neural nets, Modelling, Bid offer spreads Paper type Research paper

Violence Profiles on International TV News

Journalism has achieved a crucial importance as a social institution linked with the notion of the public interest. It is still doing so but is nevertheless increasingly challenged by getting networked with the interested publics. This becomes more apparent in times when the media repertoires and audiences as such are changing, when the public relies on more than one news source for the transmission and formulation of world events, but when the importance of TV news nevertheless remains relatively stable. Against this backdrop we may ask what publics contribute to or take away from the new plethora of images and stories saturating the media? This article gives an approximate answer by drawing on a comparative analysis of the present-day presentations of violence on British, German, and Russian television news. Violence in the media is not a new phenomenon, as age-old literary masterpieces like Homer’s Odyssey show, but it is still a very popular one, especially in the news. This article highlights trans-national and national elements in the reporting of violence in three different news cultures. At first glance, both the substantial cross-national violence news flow and the cross-national visual violence flow (key visuals) may be interpreted as distinctly trans-national elements. Event-related textual analysis, however, reveals how the historical rootedness of nations and their specific symbols of power are still very much manifested in respective television mediations of violence. In conclusion, this study recommends the pursuit of conscientious comparisons in journalist research and practice in order to understand what violence news convey in the different arenas of present-day newsmaking.

Modelling and execution of asset management process via workflow automation

An Asset Management (AM) life-cycle constitutes a set of processes that align with the development, operation and maintenance of assets, in order to meet the desired requirements and objectives of the stake holders of the business. The scope of AM is often broad within an organization due to the interactions between its internal elements such as human resources, finance, technology, engineering operation, information technology and management, as well as external elements such as governance and environment. Due to the complexity of the AM processes, it has been proposed that in order to optimize asset management activities, process modelling initiatives should be adopted. Although organisations adopt AM principles and carry out AM initiatives, most do not document or model their AM processes, let alone enacting their processes (semi-) automatically using a computer-supported system. There is currently a lack of knowledge describing how to model AM processes through a methodical and suitable manner so that the processes are streamlines and optimized and are ready for deployment in a computerised way. This research aims to overcome this deficiency by developing an approach that will aid organisations in constructing AM process models quickly and systematically whilst using the most appropriate techniques, such as workflow technology. Currently, there is a wealth of information within the individual domains of AM and workflow. Both fields are gaining significant popularity in many industries thus fuelling the need for research in exploring the possible benefits of their cross-disciplinary applications. This research is thus inspired to investigate these two domains to exploit the application of workflow to modelling and execution of AM processes. Specifically, it will investigate appropriate methodologies in applying workflow techniques to AM frameworks. One of the benefits of applying workflow models to AM processes is to adapt and enable both ad-hoc and evolutionary changes over time. In addition, this can automate an AM process as well as to support the coordination and collaboration of people that are involved in carrying out the process. A workflow management system (WFMS) can be used to support the design and enactment (i.e. execution) of processes and cope with changes that occur to the process during the enactment. So far few literatures can be found in documenting a systematic approach to modelling the characteristics of AM processes. In order to obtain a workflow model for AM processes commonalities and differences between different AM processes need to be identified. This is the fundamental step in developing a conscientious workflow model for AM processes. Therefore, the first stage of this research focuses on identifying the characteristics of AM processes, especially AM decision making processes. The second stage is to review a number of contemporary workflow techniques and choose a suitable technique for application to AM decision making processes. The third stage is to develop an intermediate ameliorated AM decision process definition that improves the current process description and is ready for modelling using the workflow language selected in the previous stage. All these lead to the fourth stage where a workflow model for an AM decision making process is developed. The process model is then deployed (semi-) automatically in a state-of-the-art WFMS demonstrating the benefits of applying workflow technology to the domain of AM. Given that the information in the AM decision making process is captured at an abstract level within the scope of this work, the deployed process model can be used as an executable guideline for carrying out an AM decision process in practice. Moreover, it can be used as a vanilla system that, once being incorporated with rich information from a specific AM decision making process (e.g. in the case of a building construction or a power plant maintenance), is able to support the automation of such a process in a more elaborated way.

A solution to fashion textile unsustainability

Today, polarisation of the fashion textile industry has already begun as smart, intelligent and conscientious fashion emerges as a backlash to the experience of choice fatigue, poor quality, dumb design and greenwash. But the process, development and manufacture of fashion textiles is complex. And the demand, both customer and industry driven, for new integrated product policies,2 designed to minimise environmental impacts by looking at all phases of a product's life cycle, is problematic due to complexity and a lack of networking tools. This article explores these issues through the construct of the department store of the future.

The economics of happiness : a lifetime perspective

The three studies in this thesis focus on happiness and age and seek to contribute to our understanding of happiness change over the lifetime. The first study contributes by offering an explanation for what was evolving to a ‘stylised fact’ in the economics literature, the U-shape of happiness in age. No U-shape is evident if one makes a visual inspection of the age happiness relationship in the German socio-economic panel data, and, it seems counter-intuitive that we just have to wait until we get old to be happy. Eliminating the very young, the very old, and the first timers from the analysis did not explain away regression results supporting the U-shape of happiness in age, but fixed effect analysis did. Analysis revealed found that reverse causality arising from time-invariant individual traits explained the U-shape of happiness in age in the German population, and the results were robust across six econometric methods. Robustness was added to the German fixed effect finding by replicating it with the Australian and the British socio-economic panel data sets. During analysis of the German data an unexpected finding emerged, an exceedingly large negative linear effect of age on happiness in fixed-effect regressions. There is a large self-reported happiness decline by those who remain in the German panel. A similar decline over time was not evident in the Australian or the British data. After testing away age, time and cohort effects, a time-in-panel effect was found. Germans who remain in the panel for longer progressively report lower levels of happiness. Because time-in-panel effects have not been included in happiness regression specifications, our estimates may be biased; perhaps some economics of the happiness studies, that used German panel data, need revisiting. The second study builds upon the fixed-effect finding of the first study and extends our view of lifetime happiness to a cohort little visited by economists, children. Initial analysis extends our view of lifetime happiness beyond adulthood and revealed a happiness decline in adolescent (15 to 23 year-old) Australians that is twice the size of the happiness decline we see in older Australians (75 to 86 yearolds), who we expect to be unhappy due to declining income, failing health and the onset of death. To resolve a difference of opinion in the literature as to whether childhood happiness decreases, increases, or remains flat in age; survey instruments and an Internet-based survey were developed and used to collect data from four hundred 9 to 14 year-old Australian children. Applying the data to a Model of Childhood Happiness revealed that the natural environment life-satisfaction domain factor did not have a significant effect on childhood happiness. However, the children’s school environment and interactions with friends life-satisfaction domain factors explained over half a steep decline in childhood happiness that is three times larger than what we see in older Australians. Adding personality to the model revealed what we expect to see with adults, extraverted children are happier, but unexpectedly, so are conscientious children. With the steep decline in the happiness of young Australians revealed and explanations offered, the third study builds on the time-invariant individual trait finding from the first study by applying the Australian panel data to an Aggregate Model of Average Happiness over the lifetime. The model’s independent variable is the stress that arises from the interaction between personality and the life event shocks that affect individuals and peers throughout their lives. Interestingly, a graphic depiction of the stress in age relationship reveals an inverse U-shape; an inverse U-shape that looks like the opposite of the U-shape of happiness in age we saw in the first study. The stress arising from life event shocks is found to explain much of the change in average happiness over a lifetime. With the policy recommendations of economists potentially invoking unexpected changes in our lives, the ensuing stress and resulting (un)happiness warrant consideration before economists make policy recommendations.

Enhancing capacity for 'systematic' thinking in public health

The concept of being evidence based or evidence informed is widely acknowledged as an important component of decision-making. It is perhaps most universally referred to in medicine, however has extended into many other disciplines over the past decade, including public health. Evidence-based public health has been defined as the ‘conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of communities and populations in the domain of health protection, disease prevention, health maintenance and improvement (health promotion)’.1 More recent literature favours the use of the term evidence informed over evidence based to acknowledge the varying influences on decisions in this complex field.2,3 Evidence-informed activities in any discipline require a specific set of skills in critical thinking. These skills include identifying the questions to be resolved, collecting relevant evidence, and assessing, synthesizing and distilling evidence in a way that can inform the set of activities to be undertaken as a result.

Unpacking the role of mindfulness on conscientiousness and spirituality

The present study examined relationships between conscientiousness and intrinsic spirituality, with the proposed trait ‘mindfulness’ as mediator. The results from 161 functioning adults within an Australian context revealed that mindfulness was significantly predicted by conscientiousness. This study examined the relationship among conscientiousness, trait mindfulness and intrinsic spirituality. It was hypothesised that trait mindfulness would mediate the relationship between conscientiousness and spirituality. We found this hypothesis partially supported. Practically, these results suggest that conscientious individuals do significantly connect with mindfulness, and it was only the more mindful of conscientious individuals that also displayed high levels of intrinsic spirituality. Additional analyses also suggest that conscientious individuals connect with mindfulness through attending to current actions or regulating impulses (act aware) and have an accepting attitude towards thoughts and feelings (non-judge). Possible explanations and implications of these results are discussed in relation to theory, practice and delivery mechanisms of mindfulness.

The Effect of Food-Related Lifestyle on the Choices of Consumers of Five Food Products

The purpose of this study was to find out whether food-related lifestyle guides and explains product evaluations, specifically, consumer perceptions and choice evaluations of five different food product categories: lettuce, mincemeat, savoury sauce, goat cheese, and pudding. The opinions of consumers who shop in neighbourhood stores were considered most valuable. This study applies means-end chain (MEC) theory, according to which products are seen as means by which consumers attain meaningful goals. The food-related lifestyle (FRL) instrument was created to study lifestyles that reflect these goals. Further, this research has adopted the view that the FRL functions as a script which guides consumer behaviour. Two research methods were used in this study. The first was the laddering interview, the primary aim of which was to gather information for formulating the questionnaire of the main study. The survey consisted of two separate questionnaires. The first was the FRL questionnaire modified for this study. The aim of the other questionnaire was to determine the choice criteria for buying five different categories of food products. Before these analyses could be made, several data modifications were made following MEC analysis procedures. Beside forming FRL dimensions by counting sum-scores from the FRL statements, factor analysis was run in order to elicit latent factors underlying the dimensions. The lifestyle factors found were adventurous, conscientious, enthusiastic, snacking, moderate, and uninvolved lifestyles. The association analyses were done separately for each choice of product as well as for each attribute-consequence linkage with a non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test. The testing variables were FRL dimensions and the FRL lifestyle factors. In addition, the relation between the attribute-consequence linkages and the demographic variables were analysed. Results from this study showed that the choice of product is sequential, so that consumers first categorize products into groups based on specific criteria like health or convenience. It was attested that the food-related lifestyles function as a script in food choice and that the FRL instrument can be used to predict consumer buying behaviour. Certain lifestyles were associated with the choice of each product category. The actual product choice within a product category then appeared to be a different matter. In addition, this study proposes a modification to the FRL instrument. The positive towards advertising FRL dimension was modified to examine many kinds of information search including the internet, TV, magazines, and other people. This new dimension, which was designated as being open to additional information, proved to be very robust and reliable in finding differences in consumer choice behaviour. Active additional information search was linked to adventurous and snacking food-related lifestyles. The results of this study support the previous knowledge that consumers expect to get many benefits simultaneously when they buy food products. This study brought detailed information about the benefits sought, the combination of benefits differing between products and between respondents. Household economy, pleasure and quality were emphasized with the choice of lettuce. Quality was the most significant benefit in choosing mincemeat, but health related benefits were often evaluated as well. The dominant benefits linked to savoury sauce were household economic benefits, expected pleasurable experiences, and a lift in self-respect. The choice of goat cheese appeared not to be an economic decision, self-respect, pleasure, and quality being included in the choice criteria. In choosing pudding, the respondents considered the well-being of family members, and indulged their family members or themselves.

Los derechos y deberes de médicos y pacientes desde la vigencia de la Ley 26.529

Resumen: El artículo considera los derechos y deberes de médicos y pacientes, especialmente luego de la sanción de la ley 26.529, destacando sus temas relevantes, aquellos que habían dado lugar a distintas interpretaciones tanto en la jurisprudencia, como en la doctrina. Se tratan, así, la historia clínica y el consentimiento informado, precisándose sus conceptos, formas, funciones e interpretaciones. Similar atención merecen las directivas anticipadas de salud, el “testamento vital”, las posibilidades del médico y sus posibles objeciones de conciencia. De igual modo la autonomía de la voluntad del paciente, su libertad y responsabilidad. Se considera la eutanasia, precisándose que no es un derecho del paciente. Se estudia el secreto profesional del médico, a la luz de las contradictorias normas legales vigentes y jurisprudencia consecuente, para detenerse en la más reciente decisión de la Corte Suprema de Justicia de la Nación en su actual composición. Finalmente se precisan los conceptos de las responsabilidades de médicos y órganos sanitarios, con la posibilidad de su aseguramiento y el conflicto de algunas de las coberturas que se otorgan en plaza, como la conocida claims made.

El hombre en cuanto persona

Resumen: El artículo examina el concepto de persona, en sus fuentes aporéticas y en el pensamiento de Santo Tomás de Aquino para, finalmente, analizar algunas de sus propiedades en orden a fundamentar una teoría de la imputación. La primera parte comienza con la consideración de los orígenes semánticos, históricos y teológicos de los términos persona e hypóstasis. Trata luego el problema teórico que este concepto implica para el pensamiento moderno, teniendo en cuenta el empobrecimiento de su Metafísica, como consecuencia del nominalismo, el principio de inmanencia y una deficiente concepción de la experiencia. Por último, se toman en consideración algunas consecuencias que dicho empobrecimiento tienen en el pensamiento contemporáneo. La segunda parte está dedicada a exponer la doctrina tomista que de un modo teóricamente definitivo dio solución, con elementos ontológicos aristotélicos, a los problemas planteados en la época Patrística. Se analiza el concepto de sustancia individual (o suppositum), que en la definición de persona opera analógicamente como género próximo, y el de naturaleza espiritual individuada, que opera como diferencia específica. Finalmente, se aportan textos del Aquinate acerca de la definición y de las diferencias conceptuales y ontológicas entre naturaleza y persona. En la tercera parte se exponen algunas propiedades, dividiéndolas en cuatro grupos de tesis: 1°) la persona como sujeto de atribución y dueña de sus proyectos vitales; 2°) como sujeto ontológicamente abierto al mundo, a los semejantes y a Dios; 3°) como sujeto consciente, libre y autónomo; 4°) el carácter ético de la persona, como sujeto de imputación y responsabilidad.

A estrutura tópico-comentário no português brasileiro: a organização informacional da sentença

Esta pesquisa tem por finalidade analisar as construções sentenciais de tópico-comentário, de tópico marcado e de tópico não marcado, em produções textuais de estudantes do sexto ao nono anos do segundo segmento do ensino fundamental de escola pública localizada em comunidade da Zona Oeste do Rio de Janeiro, tendo sido analisadas 316 produções de um universo de 1040. O aporte teórico é o Funcionalismo, com ênfase na teoria dos três diferentes tipos de sujeito Sujeito Lógico, Sujeito Psicológico e Sujeito gramatical de Halliday (1994) e na teoria da Estrutura Informacional (Information Structure) de Lambrecht (1994). Partindo de análise quantitativa e qualitativa de corpus, investigou-se, de um lado, o percentual de aparecimento de construções de tópico marcado e não marcado e, de outro, os diferentes tipos de tópico não marcado e as motivações sintáticas e pragmático-discursivas de sua utilização. A análise foi feita em duas etapas. Primeiramente, para a identificação e a quantificação das construções sentenciais de tópico marcado, procedeu-se à investigação das seguintes variáveis: 1) tipo de tópico marcado mais recorrente, segundo categorização específica referente ao tópico e suas relações argumentais com o verbo 2) Posição mais frequente, considerando a estrutura textual e a ambiência sintática de favorecimento do uso do pronome correferente (presença/ausência de sintagma ou oração intercalada entre tópico sentencial e pronome correferente). A fim de investigar os contextos favorecedores de uso dos tópicos não marcados sujeito pronominal pleno de 3 pessoa e sujeito pronominal nulo de 3 pessoa, consideraram-se as seguintes variáveis: 1) tipo de oração e 2) conexão discursiva cf. Paredes Silva (2003). Os resultados obtidos permitem sistematizar as condições de uso das estruturas estudadas. Com relação às construções sentenciais de tópico marcado, verificou-se que se constitui em estratégia de ativar no discurso o elemento sobre o qual informações novas serão transmitidas, marcando-o como o tópico sentencial. Relativamente aos tópicos não marcados, as estratégias de uso estão relacionadas ao tipo de oração e ao grau de conexão discursiva da sentença. O uso do sujeito nulo está diretamente relacionado à conexão discursiva de grau 1, denominado ótimo. Uma breve análise de tais construções em autores consagrados da literatura brasileira e demais autores brasileiros contemporâneos permite afirmar que as construções de tópico, principalmente as que contêm tópico marcado, merecem uma atenção maior no ensino de Língua Portuguesa, uma vez que constituem uma estratégia pragmático-discursiva de uso corrente e de função relevante nos processos interacionais. O estudo das construções de tópico, portanto, merece uma atenção especial, uma vez que refletem a riqueza de nosso idioma, ao representar uma estratégia pragmático-discursiva que, se bem desenvolvida, constituir-se-á em uma ferramenta a mais para o usuário da língua no que concerne ao uso consciente e competente do idioma materno

The rebirth of dependence– offering an alternative understanding of the financial crisis

Purpose – This article aims to contribute to the re-evaluation of the global market system using a Marxist inspired theory of development, dependency.

Design/methodology/approach – This article draws on dependency theory as an alternative means of understanding global relationships. Building on existing literature, it modifies dependency to encapsulate technological developments and trends in the global market.

Findings – Re-evaluating the global market and the relationships that underpin it, through an alternative theory, highlights the fragility of markets and associated relationships. Increasingly, nation states are becoming irrelevant. This presents a problem as the main actors in the global market today are “above” inter-state relations, yet the organs that regulate their behaviour still are grounded in inter-state rhetoric. The relationship between development and underdevelopment remains.

Research limitations/implications – The financial crisis has propagated a wealth of interest in the relationships between states, between multi-national corporations (MNCs) and between MNCs and state. Using this broad theory of modified dependency, it can be applied to a range of different relationships. In the wake of financial crisis, there is the opportunity to raise awareness of these ingrained issues and initiate discussions at national, regional and international levels to alleviate some of the conditions of dependence.

Practical implications – Regardless of the work of national governments and NGOs to instigate development in lesser-developed regions through policy and regulations, unless there is a conscientious commitment from MNCs operating in that region to contribute to development, the result will be the development of underdevelopment and the underdevelopment of development. CSR can help alleviate the conditions of the dependence on capital generated by MNCs, but this is not a solution to an ingrained problem, capitalism.

Originality/value – This article introduces a modified theory of dependency for the first time. It applies the theory to the financial crisis and to the continent of Africa. It considers the role that CSR can play in alleviating the conditions of dependence.

The current state of abortion law and practice in Northern Ireland

This paper reviews current abortion law and practice in Northern Ireland (NI). It explores the origins of NI's abortion law and its complexity in relation to current practice. it reviews issues relating to women seeking terminations in NI and Great Britain and reviews attempts by the Family Planning Association NI to require the Department of Health and Social Services and Public Safety NI to provide guidance for health professionals engaged in this practice. The paper also discusses some of the issues surrounding abortion in NI and seeks to explain why this subject is causing controversy and debate, especially following a judicial review in February and Marie Stopes opening a termination service in Belfast.