Human computer interaction for international development: past present and future

Recent years have seen a burgeoning interest in research into the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the context of developing regions, particularly into how such ICTs might be appropriately designed to meet the unique user and infrastructural requirements that we encounter in these cross-cultural environments. This emerging field, known to some as HCI4D, is the product of a diverse set of origins. As such, it can often be difficult to navigate prior work, and/or to piece together a broad picture of what the field looks like as a whole. In this paper, we aim to contextualize HCI4D—to give it some historical background, to review its existing literature spanning a number of research traditions, to discuss some of its key issues arising from the work done so far, and to suggest some major research objectives for the future

Cultural Differences in Indecisiveness

East Asians endorse naïve dialecticism, a lay belief system that tolerates contradictory information (Peng & Nisbett, 1999). Accordingly, individuals of East Asian (vs. European) cultural backgrounds are more likely to hold and less likely to change ambivalent attitudes (Ng et al., 2012). If East Asians have a heightened tendency to see both positive and negative aspects of an object or issue, but less inclination to resolve these inconsistencies, they may experience more difficulty in committing to an action, and thus be more indecisive than other cultural groups. This, in turn, may have a negative impact on life satisfaction. These propositions were tested in four studies. In Study 1 (N = 59) I examined how indecisive tendency differed between East Asian Canadian and European Canadian participants using a real educational decision. Results indicated that East Asian Canadian participants exhibited different manifestations of indecisiveness (i.e., decision difficulty, post-decision regret, decision latency) to a higher degree than did European Canadian participants. In Study 2 (N = 511) I investigated cultural differences in chronic indecisiveness and how naïve dialecticism and need for cognition might contribute to these differences by comparing East Asian Canadians, South Asian Canadians, and European Canadians. It was found that East Asian (vs. European and South Asian) Canadian participants exhibited more chronic indecisiveness, and naïve dialecticism and need for cognition mediated the relationship between culture and indecisiveness in opposite directions. In Study 3 (N = 104) I tested again the mediating role that naïve dialecticism plays in explaining cultural differences in chronic indecisiveness and examined how these differences might have negative downstream consequences for life satisfaction. Results indicated that East Asian (vs. European) Canadian participants had lower life satisfaction, which was mediated serially by naïve dialecticism through chronic indecisiveness. In Study 4 (N = 109) I established the causal effect of naïve dialecticism on indecision using a priming method and tested whether evaluative ambivalence would explain this effect in a consumer choice task. It was found that European Canadian participants who were primed with a dialectical mindset were more indecisive when choosing a computer, relative to those not primed, and this effect was mediated by evaluative ambivalence toward the chosen alternative. Findings of this dissertation contribute to the indecisiveness literature by showing individual and cultural variations in indecisiveness as well as their antecedents, mechanisms, and consequences

A Labyrinth of Mirrors: The Reader as the Writer and the Writer as the Reader in Jorge Luis Borges’ Short Fictions

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Languages and Literature of Bard College

Sustainable Supply Chain Management with NGOs, NPOs, and Charity Organizations: A Systematic Review and Research Agenda

With the gradually increased awareness of sustainability development, external organizations, including non-governmental organizations (NGOs), non-profit organizations (NPOs), and charity organizations, play an increasingly crucial role in sustainable supply chain management (SSCM). The participation of external organizations not only helps the firms to improve reputation, but also regulates and improves their SSCM. Based on this motivation, we identify the major research domains and examine each domain's evolution by using the objective review methods, including Citation Network Analysis and Main Path Analysis in this literature review paper. Five research domains are recognized, namely, “sustainable supply chain framework design”, “supply chain coordination/collaboration”, “closed-loop supply chain”, “regulation”, and “subsidy and donation”. We review the most influential papers in each research domain to show the evolution of these studies. Based on our review findings, we successfully propose four future research agendas with eight specific issues and innovatively establish a new research framework. The outputs of this review paper can guide the researchers on future search topics and contribute to the development of SSCM with the consideration of organizations.</p

Health promoting palliative care through higher education reform: development and evaluation of a new humanities course in thanatology

Under a socio-cultural backdrop where death and loss is heavily stigmatized and community resources for the dying and the bereaved are lacking, Hong Kong requires a public health approach for empowering its people to become active participants in the governance of mortality. “Health-promoting palliative care” (HPPC) translates the hospice ideals of total person care into much broader public health languages and practices, focusing not only on palliation but also prevention, harm reduction, community action, policy advocacy, and most importantly, education and research. Despite their significance, life and death education and Thanatology research has received little attention in Hong Kong. The recent General Education (GE) reform for tertiary institutions, which aims to nurture students’ creativity and civility through the liberal arts, provides a timely opportunity to actualize HPPC. The current study provides a formative account of the development and implementation of a new thanatology course, “The Last Dance: Understanding Death and Dying” offered by the University of Hong Kong, and critically examines its efficacy for reducing negative death perceptions and enhancing positive life attitudes among a group of undergraduate students. Adopting a mixed methods research design and a holistic approach to education evaluation, it utilizes: 1) a quantitative pretest-posttest survey to assess course effectiveness with the standardized tools of Death Attitude Profile-Revised, Meaning-in-Life Scale and Spirituality Scale, as well as a series of ad hoc items on traditional death taboos and death preparedness behaviors; and 2) a qualitative analysis of 100 randomly selected students’ reflective writings for identifying factors that facilitate effective learning. Results from paired-sample t-test with 85 students who have successfully completed the pretest-posttest survey provide robust evidence that The Last Dance was effective in significantly reducing students’ fear of death, death avoidance tendency, and taboo beliefs that oppress death, while promoting active participation in the governance of mortality through increased death preparedness behaviors. Moreover, The Last Dance was found to be effective in enhancing students’ sense of meaning in life, spirituality and interconnectedness. Framework analysis of Students’ reflective writing revealed 12 themes that illuminate the specific learning contents, pedagogy activities, key attitudinal and behavioral changes, as well as significant learning outcomes which supported the quantitative results. These 12 themes were organized into four categories: 1) “Mortality Matters”, which includes Consideration of Palliative Care and Euthanasia, Expression of Death via Arts and Media, and Exploration of Death Rituals and Spirituality; 2) “Teachable Moments” which includes Multi-Media Lectures, Funeral Home Visitation, and Examination of life; 3) “Shifting Perspectives”, which encompasses Cultivating Insights, Renewing Meaning, and Applying Knowledge; and 4) “Ego Awakening” which encompasses Normalization of death, Appreciation of Life, and Recognition of Common Humanity. These 4 categories and their respective 12 themes together form a “Thanatology Pathway to Transformative Growth”, highlighting the vital significance of carefully integrating stimulating learning contents with engaging pedagogical activities for developing an effective and holistic thanatology curriculum; one that focuses not only on skills and knowledge transfer, but also on cultivating life appreciation and compassionate living through an enhanced understanding of death, dying and bereavement

Slow art plus: developing and piloting a single session art gallery-based intervention for mental health promotion via a mixed method waitlist randomized control trial

IntroductionThe current study builds on the expertise of National Gallery Singapore and Nanyang Technological University Singapore (NTU) in developing and piloting an enhanced version of the Slow Art program, namely “Slow Art Plus” for mental health promotion.MethodsA single-site, open-label, waitlist Randomized Control Trial (RCT) design comprising of a treatment group and waitlist control group was adopted (ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT05803226). Participants (N = 196) completed three online questionnaires at three timepoints: baseline [T1], immediately post-intervention/s baseline [T2], post-intervention follow-up/immediately post-intervention [T3]. Qualitative focus groups were conducted to evaluate program acceptability.ResultsA mixed model ANOVA was performed to understand intervention effectiveness between the immediate intervention group and waitlist control group. The analyses revealed a significant interaction effect where intervention group participants reported an improvement in spiritual well-being (p = 0.001), describing their thoughts and experiences (p = 0.02), and nonreacting to inner experiences (p = 0.01) immediately after Slow Art Plus as compared to the control group. Additionally, one-way repeated measure ANOVAs were conducted for the intervention group to evaluate maintenance effects of the intervention. The analyses indicated significant improvements in perceived stress (p &lt; 0.001), mindfulness (p &lt; 0.001) as well as multiple mindfulness subscales, active engagement with the world (p = 0.003), and self-compassion (p = 0.02) 1 day after the completion of Slow Art Plus. Results from framework analysis of focus group data revealed a total of two themes (1: Experiences of Slow Art Plus, 2: Insights to Effective Implementation) and six subthemes (1a: Peaceful relaxation, 1b: Self-Compassion, 1c: Widened Perspective, 2a: Valuable Components, 2b: Execution Requisites, 2c: Suggested Enhancements), providing valuable insights to the overall experience and implementation of the intervention.DiscussionSlow Art Plus represents a unique approach, offering a standardized, multimodal, single-session program that integrates mindfulness and self-compassion practices, as well as reflective and creative expressions with Southeast Asian art. It demonstrates potential in meeting the mental health needs of a wide range of individuals and could be readily incorporated into social prescribing initiatives for diverse populations

Fucosyltransferase 1 and 2 play pivotal roles in breast cancer cells.

FUT1 and FUT2 encode alpha 1, 2-fucosyltransferases which catalyze the addition of alpha 1, 2-linked fucose to glycans. Glycan products of FUT1 and FUT2, such as Globo H and Lewis Y, are highly expressed on malignant tissues, including breast cancer. Herein, we investigated the roles of FUT1 and FUT2 in breast cancer. Silencing of FUT1 or FUT2 by shRNAs inhibited cell proliferation in vitro and tumorigenicity in mice. This was associated with diminished properties of cancer stem cell (CSC), including mammosphere formation and CSC marker both in vitro and in xenografts. Silencing of FUT2, but not FUT1, significantly changed the cuboidal morphology to dense clusters of small and round cells with reduced adhesion to polystyrene and extracellular matrix, including laminin, fibronectin and collagen. Silencing of FUT1 or FUT2 suppressed cell migration in wound healing assay, whereas FUT1 and FUT2 overexpression increased cell migration and invasion in vitro and metastasis of breast cancer in vivo. A decrease in mesenchymal like markers such as fibronectin, vimentin, and twist, along with increased epithelial like marker, E-cadherin, was observed upon FUT1/2 knockdown, while the opposite was noted by overexpression of FUT1 or FUT2. As expected, FUT1 or FUT2 knockdown reduced Globo H, whereas FUT1 or FUT2 overexpression showed contrary effects. Exogenous addition of Globo H-ceramide reversed the suppression of cell migration by FUT1 knockdown but not the inhibition of cell adhesion by FUT2 silencing, suggesting that at least part of the effects of FUT1/2 knockdown were mediated by Globo H. Our results imply that FUT1 and FUT2 play important roles in regulating growth, adhesion, migration and CSC properties of breast cancer, and may serve as therapeutic targets for breast cancer

An Extension of the Direct Method for Verifying Programs

A direct method based on a finite set of path formulas which describe the input-output relations of a given program can be used to verify programs containing no overlapping loops. One major difficulty in verifying programs with overlapping loops using the above method is that too many path formulas (possibly infinite) needed to be considered. In this paper, we circumvent the above difficulty by applying the concept of modularity. The idea is to divide a program with overlapping loops into several small modules so that each module contains no overlapping loop. This can always be achieved if the program is in structured form. Then the path formulas will be derived for each module. By combining the path formulas for the modules, one can further obtain the path formulas for the given program and then use them to verify the program

Lived experience of a child's chronic illness and death: A qualitative systematic review of the parental bereavement trajectory

To understand the lived experience of parents who have lost their child to a chronic life-limiting condition, six major databases were searched by adhering to the PRISMA guidelines. Articles were screened for appropriateness using the SPIDER tool, and relevant qualitative studies were selected for full-text data analysis using Thematic Synthesis. Findings were categorized into 13 themes that were further organized into a four-phase trajectory of parental bereavement experience of child loss, namely: Liminal Margin, Holding Space, Navigating Losses, and Reconstructing Lives. The findings are discussed in the light of existing literature with practical recommendations for enhancing parental bereavement support services