Metaphysics of love in the religious philosophy of Pável Florensky

This article focuses on the analysis of the concept of love in the religious philosophy of Pavel Florensky, who shares the ontological approach to the consideration of love with other representatives of Russian religious philosophy (N. berdyaev and S. bulgakov). We pay more careful attention to the understanding of love-άγαπαν by Florensky. We have drawn the conclusion that, in the philosophy of P. Florensky, Love, closely connected with truth and beauty, is considered an ontological basis existence of personality. We develop the ideas of Pavel Florensky, and accordingly assume that it is possible to synthesise love-agape and love-eros around the idea of sacrificial love. Agapelogical and erotical ‘bezels’ of one jewel of love is aspects of united love, which is given by God. this gift of God, the gift of united love, is kept by humans through prayer and deeds of love.

Of Marx and Makers: an Historical Perspective on Generative Justice

In Marxist frameworks “distributive justice” depends on extracting value through a centralized state. Many new social movements—peer to peer economy, maker activism, community agriculture, queer ecology, etc.—take the opposite approach, keeping value in its unalienated form and allowing it to freely circulate from the bottom up. Unlike Marxism, there is no general theory for bottom-up, unalienated value circulation. This paper examines the concept of “generative justice” through an historical contrast between Marx’s writings and the indigenous cultures that he drew upon. Marx erroneously concluded that while indigenous cultures had unalienated forms of production, only centralized value extraction could allow the productivity needed for a high quality of life. To the contrary, indigenous cultures now provide a robust model for the “gift economy” that underpins open source technological production, agroecology, and restorative approaches to civil rights. Expanding Marx’s concept of unalienated labor value to include unalienated ecological (nonhuman) value, as well as the domain of freedom in speech, sexual orientation, spirituality and other forms of “expressive” value, we arrive at an historically informed perspective for generative justice. 

Equipping young people to engage with media driven science experiences: beyond science knowledge to science literacy and discerning consumers of news.

This paper reports on a study of a curricular intervention for pupils (age 10-13 years) in the UK aimed at supporting critical engagement with science based media reports. In particular the study focused on core elements of knowledge, skills and attitudes identified in previous studies that characterize critical consumers of science presented as news. This was an empirical study based on classroom observation. Data included responses from individual pupils, in addition video recording of group activity and intentional conversations between pupils and teachers were scrutinised. Analysis focused on core tasks relating to different elements of critical reading. Pupils demonstrated a grasp of questioning and evaluating text, however the capacity to translate this experience in support of a critical response to a media report with a science component is limited in assessing the credibility of text and as an element in critical reading.

Knowledge and acceptance of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) and HPV vaccination in adolescent boys worldwide: a systematic review

Aim

To determine HPV and HPV vaccine awareness, knowledge and acceptance in male adolescents worldwide.

Methods

A mixed methods systematic review was conducted. In accordance with PRISMA guidelines, relevant literature was identified through an electronic database search using specified keywords from inception to September 2015. Non-interventional studies presented in English that assessed HPV knowledge and provided data on male adolescents were included. If available, data on HPV and HPV vaccine perceptions, attitudes and/or HPV vaccine acceptance were also extracted. All studies were critically appraised to provide an indication of methodological quality. Results were compiled using a convergent synthesis.

Results

22 papers were included. The majority of studies were cross-sectional and conducted in the US and Europe. Across continents, regardless of a country’s HPV vaccination programme status, boys’ knowledge of HPV and/or HPV vaccination was generally low to moderate and significantly lower than female knowledge or awareness. There was a disagreement in the association of knowledge and vaccine acceptance, with higher knowledge not always being predictive of acceptance.

Conclusions

Comparison and synthesis of research concerning HPV knowledge and attitudes was made difficult due to the lack of universal definition of vaccine acceptance, and no universally accepted tool for its measurement or for the measurement of HPV knowledge. It is imperative that future research utilises consistent measures of HPV knowledge and attitudes to facilitate interpretation and comparison across studies internationally. Prospective longitudinal studies would be more informative providing data on factors that influenced the move from vaccine intention to uptake.

The strategic role of design in supporting knowledge exchange

Within the last decade design has had a strategic role in tackling escalating environmental, social and economic problems. Through design thinking, creative methods have been applied to problem solving in a process of collaboration and designers working in new territories and knowledge domains. As the designer has moved further afield the method of Knowledge Exchange (KE) has become more recognised as a democratic approach to collaboration with the ethos that everyone has something creative and productive to offer. This paper provides reflections on early stage findings from a strategic design innovation process in which collaborative partnerships between academics, SMEs and designers emerged through KE and suggests that there is value to be had from using design strategically for not only those from a business or academic background but also for those from the design community and points to a need for more training for designers from all disciplines in how to use design strategically

Tacit knowledge sharing: the determination of a methodological approach to explore the intangible.

Introduction. Research design should take into account both (a) the specific nature of the object under scrutiny, and (b) approaches to its study in the past. This is to ensure that informed decisions are made regarding research design in future empirical studies. Here these factors are taken into account with reference to methodological choice for a doctoral study on tacit knowledge sharing, and the extent to tacit knowledge sharing may be facilitated by online tools. The larger study responds to calls for the two domains of knowledge management and human information behaviour to be considered together in terms of their research approaches and theory development. Method. Relevant literature – both domain-specific (knowledge management) and general (research methods in social science) - was identified and analysed to identify the most appropriate approaches for an empirical study of tacit knowledge sharing. Analysis. The analysis shows that there are a number of challenges associated with studying an intangible entity such as tacit knowledge. Quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods have been adopted in prior work on this theme, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Results. The analysis has informed a decision to adopt a research approach that deploys mixed methods for an inductive case study to extend knowledge of the influence of online tools on tacit knowledge sharing. Conclusion. This work intends to open the debate on methodological choice and routes to implementation for studies that are subject to practical constraints imposed by the context in which they are situated.

Evaluating Public Knowledge of the NCRMD Defence

The not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder (NCRMD) defence is used when claims can be made that offenders are not responsible for their actions due to symptoms of a mental disorder. Bill C-14, now enacted in Canada, has implemented changes making it more difficult for NCRMD defendants to be released back into the public. This enactment appears to have been primarily due to public perceptions rather than actual knowledge of the defence. Thus it seems important to assess what members of the public actually know about the defence. To assess this, 127 participants completed a survey assessing their knowledge of the illnesses generally involved in the NCRMD defence, crimes committed, and punishments received. On average, only 31.6% of responses were answered within 20% of the factual statistics. Results suggest a general lack of knowledge about the defence and demonstrate why important changes should be based on factual information rather than public opinion.

Public firm sponsorship of open source software: A knowledge-based approach to open innovation

As an emerging innovation paradigm gaining momentum in recent years, the open innovation paradigm is calling for greater theoretical depth and more empirical research. This dissertation proposes that open innovation in the context of open source software sponsorship may be viewed as knowledge strategies of the firm. Hence, this dissertation examines the performance determinants of open innovation through the lens of knowledge-based perspectives. Using event study and regression methodologies, this dissertation found that these open source software sponsorship events can indeed boost the stock market performance of US public firms. In addition, both the knowledge capabilities of the firms and the knowledge profiles of the open source projects they sponsor matter for performance. In terms of firm knowledge capabilities, internet service firms perform better than other firms owing to their advantageous complementary capabilities. Also, strong knowledge exploitation capabilities of the firm are positively associated with performance. In terms of the knowledge profile of sponsored projects, platform projects perform better than component projects. Also, community-originated projects outperform firm-originated projects. Finally, based on these findings, this dissertation discussed the important theoretical implications for the strategic tradeoff between knowledge protection and sharing.

Knowledge about sources of dietary fibres and health effects using a validated scale: a cross-country study

Objectives Dietary fibre (DF) is one of the components of diet that strongly contributes to health improvements, particularly on the gastrointestinal system. Hence, this work intended to evaluate the relations between some sociodemographic variables such as age, gender, level of education, living environment or country on the levels of knowledge about dietary fibre (KADF), its sources and its effects on human health, using a validated scale. Study design The present study was a cross-sectional study. Methods A methodological study was conducted with 6010 participants, residing in 10 countries from different continents (Europe, America, Africa). The instrument was a questionnaire of self-response, aimed at collecting information on knowledge about food fibres. The instrument was used to validate a scale (KADF) which model was used in the present work to identify the best predictors of knowledge. The statistical tools used were as follows: basic descriptive statistics, decision trees, inferential analysis (t-test for independent samples with Levene test and one-way ANOVA with multiple comparisons post hoc tests). Results The results showed that the best predictor for the three types of knowledge evaluated (about DF, about its sources and about its effects on human health) was always the country, meaning that the social, cultural and/or political conditions greatly determine the level of knowledge. On the other hand, the tests also showed that statistically significant differences were encountered regarding the three types of knowledge for all sociodemographic variables evaluated: age, gender, level of education, living environment and country. Conclusions The results showed that to improve the level of knowledge the actions planned should not be delineated in general as to reach all sectors of the populations, and that in addressing different people, different methodologies must be designed so as to provide an effective health education.

Knowledge of pre-eclampsia in women living in Makole Ward, Dodoma, Tanzania.

Background: Pre-eclampsia is a hypertensive disorder specific to pregnancy responsible for significant maternal morbidity and mortality in Africa. The majority of deaths related to pre-eclampsia could be avoided with timely and effective care. “Phase one delays” arise because of lack of knowledge. Objectives: This study aimed to assess the knowledge levels of women living in Makole ward, comparing respondent subgroups with different demographic characteristics. It also aimed to compare knowledge levels in respect to six subtopics of pre-eclampsia. This was to allow for planning of appropriate activities to reduce delays in seeking health care. Methods: This study surveyed 200 adult women randomly identified in the community. They were asked 36 questions on preeclampsia requiring yes / no answers. The data was analysed quantitatively. Results: Overall knowledge levels were low with an average of 41% of correct answers. Minor differences in the knowledge levels of demographic subgroups were found. Statistically significant differences were identified between sub-topics of preeclampsia; signs and symptoms were the least well known. Conclusion: Educational systems (formal and informal) are failing to provide communities with potentially life-saving information. Health centre, community and school based education programmes are recommended.

Knowledge and perceptions of quality of obstetric and newborn care of local health providers: a cross-sectional study in three districts in Malawi

Aim Quality of service delivery for maternal and newborn health in Malawi is influenced by human resource shortages and knowledge and care practices of the existing service providers. We assessed Malawian healthcare providers’ knowledge of management of routine labour, emergency obstetric care and emergency newborn care; correlated knowledge with reported confidence and previous study or training; and measured perception of the care they provided. Methods his study formed part of a large-scale quality of care assessment in three districts (Kasungu, Lilongwe and Salima) of Malawi. Subjects were selected purposively by their role as providers of obstetric and newborn care during routine visits to health facilities by a research assistant. Research assistants introduced and supervised the self-completed questionnaire by the service providers. Respondents included 42 nurse midwives, 1 clinical officer, 4 medical assistants and 5 other staff. Of these, 37 were staff working in facilities providing Basic Emergency Obstetric Care (BEMoC) and 15 were from staff working in facilities providing Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric Care (CEMoC). Results Knowledge regarding management of routine labour was good (80% correct responses), but knowledge of correct monitoring during routine labour (35% correct) was not in keeping with internationally recognized good practice. Questions regarding emergency obstetric care were answered correctly by 70% of respondents with significant variation depending on clinicians’ place of work. Knowledge of emergency newborn care was poor across all groups surveyed with 58% correct responses and high rates of potentially life-threatening responses from BEmOC facilities. Reported confidence and training had little impact on levels of knowledge. Staff in general reported perception of poor quality of care. Conclusion Serious deficiencies in providers’ knowledge regarding monitoring during routine labour and management of emergency newborn care were documented. These may contribute to maternal and neonatal deaths in Malawi. The knowledge gap cannot be overcome by simply providing more training.

Therapeutic commitment for general nurses in dealing with mental health problems of People Living with HIV/AIDS in Blantyre, Malawi

Introduction Therapeutic commitment of general nurses influences their provision of mental health care to clients. It is the general nurses’ predisposition for working therapeutically with clients who have mental health problems (MHPs). In Malawi, general nurses are the majority of health care professionals who care for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) and they are expected to deal with the mental health problems of these patients. The provision of mental health care to PLWHA is vital because apart from the physical illnesses associated with the virus, these people are also affected by mental health problems. However, most general nurses, feel neither confident nor competent when dealing with the mental health problems of their clients in Malawi. This may negatively influence their therapeutic commitment in dealing with mental health problems of PLWHA. However, therapeutic commitment of general nurses in providing mental health care to PLWHA in Malawi remains unknown. Materials and Methods The study used a quantitative descriptive survey design. a convenient sample comprising of 136 general nurses was used and data was collected using Mental Health Problems Perception Questionnaire. Permission to use the tool in this study was granted by Prof. Lauder. Ethical approval to conduct the study was granted by Ethics Committees at University of KwaZulu Natal and University of Malawi. Data were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 15.0. Results The study findings revealed that there is a linear relationship between general nurses’ levels of knowledge and skills and their therapeutic commitment (r=.40, n=136, p<.05) to provide mental health care of PLWHA. Conclusion This study suggests general nurses’ levels of therapeutic commitment in dealing with MHPs of PLWHA vary and their levels of knowledge and skill to deal with MHPs influence their willingness to provide mental health care to PLWHA.

Consumers knowledge about dietary fibre : Results of a survey questionnaire in Hungary and Romania

Dietary fi bres (DFs) are essential components of the balanced diet. Even though the adequate level of their consumption can be ensured from several natural (e.g. fruit, vegetables, legumes) and ‘artifi cial’ sources (e.g. functional foods), the consumed levels are below the recommendations. To analyse the Hungarian and Romanian consumers’ knowledge level, their perceptions of the health benefi ts associated with fi bre, as well as the recognition of the potential information sources, a survey questionnaire was conducted with the total of 713 consumers. Results showed that the level of knowledge about DFs was not adequate. Internet was found to be widely used and identifi ed as one of the most appropriate information sources to encourage the consumption of DF. It was a favourable result that three-quarter of the respondents was interested in the topic of healthy food consumption; however, just less than half of them took into consideration the label information during their shopping decisions. To increase the consumption of DF and to support the responsibility and conscious consumer decisions steps must to be done (e.g. education of children, pointing out of the sources). For this purpose, modern information technology and communication channels fi tting to the consumers’ cultural and personal particularities can be utilized.

Nurses knowledge of health effects of dietary fibre

Introduction: Nurses accompany patients throughout their health care to prevent and treat disease, so their knowledge about diet and dietary fibre is key to successful diet therapy, which is an essential part of a patient's non-pharmacological treatment. It is known from the literature that a high proportion of nurses have limited knowledge about diet therapy and about sources of soluble fibre and other foods that can prevent or treat certain diseases. Given the position of nurses as key providers of dietary guidance, and given the health benefits of dietary fibre, we wanted to assess the level of fibre-related knowledge among nurses in Croatia. Material and Methods: Cross-sectional study based on data collected between October 2014 and March 2015 using a survey developed by the CI&DETS Polytechnic Institute in Viseu, Portugal. The survey contains questions about demographic characteristics as well as about knowledge of sources of dietary fibre, recommended daily intake and effects of fibre intake on particular diseases. The study included a total of 369 nurses from two health institutions and one nursing school from Croatia older than 18 years. Differences in knowledge were assessed for significance using the non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test. Possible associations among variables were explored using Spearman's rank correlation. For all statistical analyses, the threshold of significance was defined as P<0.05. Results: The level of knowledge among nurses in Croatia about dietary fibre varied from «undecided» to «partial knowledge». The median for level of knowledge ranged from 3 to 4 with low variability ranging from 0.11 to 0.33. Average levels of knowledge in percentages varied from 57.6% to 82.1%. Nurses with higher education levels showed significantly higher knowledge levels about the influence of dietary fiber intake on the risk of certain diseases (p = 0.007), constipation (p = 0.016), bowel cancer (p = 0.005) and breast cancer (p = 0.039). Conclusion: The level of nurses’ knowledge about dietary fiber is suboptimal. This indicates the need to strengthen nurse education in the areas of diet and diet therapy. Increase the level of knowledge of nurses about nutrition can positively influence the quality of care.

Layered Information Modeling and a Knowledge Organization Paradigm: Inherent Classification and the Design of Interoperable Systems

In knowledge technology work, as expressed by the scope of this conference, there are a number of communities, each uncovering new methods, theories, and practices. The Library and Information Science (LIS) community is one such community. This community, through tradition and innovation, theories and practice, organizes knowledge and develops knowledge technologies formed by iterative research hewn to the values of equal access and discovery for all. The Information Modeling community is another contributor to knowledge technologies. It concerns itself with the construction of symbolic models that capture the meaning of information and organize it in ways that are computer-based, but human understandable. A recent paper that examines certain assumptions in information modeling builds a bridge between these two communities, offering a forum for a discussion on common aims from a common perspective. In a June 2000 article, Parsons and Wand separate classes from instances in information modeling in order to free instances from what they call the “tyranny” of classes. They attribute a number of problems in information modeling to inherent classification – or the disregard for the fact that instances can be conceptualized independent of any class assignment. By faceting instances from classes, Parsons and Wand strike a sonorous chord with classification theory as understood in LIS. In the practice community and in the publications of LIS, faceted classification has shifted the paradigm of knowledge organization theory in the twentieth century. Here, with the proposal of inherent classification and the resulting layered information modeling, a clear line joins both the LIS classification theory community and the information modeling community. Both communities have their eyes turned toward networked resource discovery, and with this conceptual conjunction a new paradigmatic conversation can take place. Parsons and Wand propose that the layered information model can facilitate schema integration, schema evolution, and interoperability. These three spheres in information modeling have their own connotation, but are not distant from the aims of classification research in LIS. In this new conceptual conjunction, established by Parsons and Ward, information modeling through the layered information model, can expand the horizons of classification theory beyond LIS, promoting a cross-fertilization of ideas on the interoperability of subject access tools like classification schemes, thesauri, taxonomies, and ontologies. This paper examines the common ground between the layered information model and faceted classification, establishing a vocabulary and outlining some common principles. It then turns to the issue of schema and the horizons of conventional classification and the differences between Information Modeling and Library and Information Science. Finally, a framework is proposed that deploys an interpretation of the layered information modeling approach in a knowledge technologies context. In order to design subject access systems that will integrate, evolve and interoperate in a networked environment, knowledge organization specialists must consider a semantic class independence like Parsons and Wand propose for information modeling.