Knowledge management activities: Conceptual foundations and research issues

Knowledge is a broad concept whose epistemological construct has been debated since the days of the early Greek philosophers. Knowledge was discussed extensively during the Renaissance, became a central area of study during the Scientific Revolution and was applied extensively within organisations throughout the Industrial Revolution. Knowledge became an organisational resource of significant interest, emerging over the past 25 years as a unique field of study called knowledge management (KM). Much of the KM literature addresses matters of practice and application; what is missing is a deep and conceptual analysis of the activities that drive KM processes. This article provides a conceptualisation of KM activities focusing on the underlying foundations of these activities. The result is a rich framework of KM activities that can be used to pursue important research areas involved in studying KM processes, including theory development, areas of overlap and where further research is needed.

Does de-implementation of low-value care impact the patient-clinician relationship? A mixed methods study

Background The importance of reducing low-value care (LVC) is increasingly recognized, but the impact of de-implementation on the patient-clinician relationship is not well understood. This mixed-methods study explored the impact of LVC de-implementation on the patient-clinician relationship. Methods Adult primary care patients from a large Virginia health system volunteered to participate in a survey (n = 232) or interview (n = 24). Participants completed the Patient-Doctor Relationship Questionnaire (PDRQ-9) after reading a vignette about a clinician declining to provide a low-value service: antibiotics for acute sinusitis (LVC-antibiotics); screening EKG (LVC-EKG); screening vitamin D test (LVC-vitamin D); or an alternate vignette about a high-value service, and imagining that their own primary care clinician had acted in the same manner. A different sample of participants was asked to imagine that their own primary care clinician did not order LVC-antibiotics or LVC-EKG and then respond to semi-structured interview questions. Outcomes data included participant demographics, PDRQ-9 scores (higher score = greater relationship integrity), and content analysis of transcribed interviews. Differences in PDRQ-9 scores were analyzed using one-way ANOVA. Data were integrated for analysis and interpretation. Results Although participants generally agreed with the vignette narrative (not providing LVC), many demonstrated difficulty comprehending the broad concept of LVC and potential harms. The topic triggered memories of negative experiences with healthcare (typically poor-quality care, not necessarily LVC). The most common recommendation for reducing LVC was for patients to take greater responsibility for their own health. Most participants believed that their relationship with their clinician would not be negatively impacted by denial of LVC because they trusted their clinician’s guidance. Participants emphasized that trusted clinicians are those who listen to them, spend time with them, and offer understandable advice. Some felt that not providing LVC would actually increase their trust in their clinician. Similar PDRQ-9 scores were observed for LVC-antibiotics (38.9), LVC-EKG (37.5), and the alternate vignette (36.4), but LVC-vitamin D was associated with a significantly lower score (31.2) (p < 0.05). Conclusions In this vignette-based study, we observed minimal impact of LVC de-implementation on the patient-clinician relationship, although service-specific differences surfaced. Further situation-based research is needed to confirm study findings.

Life Experiences and Coping Mechanisms among Breast Cancer Patients in an Urban Malaysian Hospital: A Qualitative Study

Breast cancer is top-ranking cancer that affects the quality of life among women in Malaysia. Although it is very difficult to define the quality of life (QoL) precisely, it has a broad concept that affects global life satisfaction, which includes good health, adequate housing, employment, personal and family safety, interrelationships, education, and leisure pursuits. In this study, we aimed to discuss the life changes upon being diagnosed with breast cancer and their perception of social support. We also discussed the spirituality factor in patients’ coping mechanism with their health condition. This study was carried out using a purposive sampling method. The perception of social support, quality of life, and religiosity factor is discussed through the perspectives of nine breast cancer patients with an interview consisting of semi-structured questions. Basic interpretive qualitative methodology was applied to analyse the perception of social support and religiosity factor as a coping mechanism. The results showed that all the breast cancer patients reported good social support from family and friends except for one patient. Five themes were identified, namely patterns of life, supportive atmosphere, decision making and confidence, expectation, as well as psychological defences and spirituality. Seven out of nine patients reported that their religion helped them to cope with the disease by maintaining self-esteem, providing a sense of meaning and purpose, giving emotional comfort, and providing a sense of hope. In conclusion, social support and religious factor are very important in the lives of breast cancer patients in dealing with their health condition.

Measuring and Analyzing Green Economy on Sustainable Development in Iraq

The climatic conditions, global environmental crises and disasters and the exacerbation of the pollution problem have prompted global economic and financial organizations such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to reconsider traditional economic models, Which resulted from it the emergence of the concept of green economy. Which made the economy more efficient by increasing the productivity of used resources and directing investments towards sustainable management of natural resources to increase their economic and environmental productivity and their ability to create green jobs and support the poor to the maximum extent possible. Because of the modernity of this economy, developing countries requested not to impose a single model that includes developed and developing economies at the United Nations Conference (Rio + 20) held in the Brazilian capital, Rio de Janeiro in 2012, and the necessity to create a broad concept for a green economy that is flexible and takes into account the disparity in levels of economic development and transformation policies Towards a green economy. Many scientific studies have proven that the development of the relationship between man and the environment was characterized by an increase and an imbalance between environmental degradation and human progress. The earth, with all its surrounding organisms, is the natural home of man who gets it, and many studies and research revealed that the environments in which a person lives can be It causes an increase or decrease in stress on his body, as the uncomfortable environment causes feelings of anxiety or sadness in contrast to a comfortable environment, and a person finds pleasure in nature regardless of his age or culture, and more than two-thirds of people choose to be in a natural environment to get rid of psychological pressure and cure many diseases Psychological and physical. The research aims to activate the role of the green economy in achieving sustainable development and focus on the health aspect. To achieve the aim of the study, the descriptive and analytical approach was used to study the reality of the trend towards a green economy in Iraq and its role in achieving development. A quantitative approach is used to analyze and interpret the impact of the green economy on sustainable development. And through the benchmarks, it was found that there is a relationship between the sustainable development indicators and the green economy index.

Artificial intelligence, machine learning, and deep learning for clinical outcome prediction

AI is a broad concept, grouping initiatives that use a computer to perform tasks that would usually require a human to complete. AI methods are well suited to predict clinical outcomes. In practice, AI methods can be thought of as functions that learn the outcomes accompanying standardized input data to produce accurate outcome predictions when trialed with new data. Current methods for cleaning, creating, accessing, extracting, augmenting, and representing data for training AI clinical prediction models are well defined. The use of AI to predict clinical outcomes is a dynamic and rapidly evolving arena, with new methods and applications emerging. Extraction or accession of electronic health care records and combining these with patient genetic data is an area of present attention, with tremendous potential for future growth. Machine learning approaches, including decision tree methods of Random Forest and XGBoost, and deep learning techniques including deep multi-layer and recurrent neural networks, afford unique capabilities to accurately create predictions from high dimensional, multimodal data. Furthermore, AI methods are increasing our ability to accurately predict clinical outcomes that previously were difficult to model, including time-dependent and multi-class outcomes. Barriers to robust AI-based clinical outcome model deployment include changing AI product development interfaces, the specificity of regulation requirements, and limitations in ensuring model interpretability, generalizability, and adaptability over time.

IRONY IN FAN FICTION

Irony is a broad concept with many cultural and artistic manifestations of criticism, sarcasm, humor, parody, and even tragedy. It can represent various intellectual and emotional states, such as criticism, self-criticism, curiosity, entertainment, disappointment, anger, boasting, etc. The tone, intensity and frequency of sound are sufficient to convey irony in speech. However, in writing authors use a number of linguistic and stylistic means to be able to convey irony to the reader. This also refers to fanfic (fan fiction) – a work of art/fiction written by book fans, TV series, films, etc. – which is based on an original creation and uses irony widely. The language we perceive when reading fan fiction influences our language and our own production of speech. Hence, the present case study aims at revealing ways and means as well as reasons of expressing irony in fan fiction – a discourse variety that has attracted great interest in the modern world especially among the younger generation.

Contours of Feminist Consciousness in the Musical and Theatrical Life of Vilnius: The Second Half of the Nineteenth Century and the Early Twentieth Century

Feminism is a broad concept, and its definition is a constant subject of debate. The article is limited to the treatment of feminism as one of the aspects in the development of female identity. The chronological boundaries of feminism discussed in this article cover the period from the second half of the nineteenth to the beginning of the twentieth century. This period is traditionally considered the first wave of feminism as an organized movement. Although primarily associated with the fight for the right of women to vote, this movement also extended to women’s other social and professional fields. Both in Lithuania and other countries, the growing modernisation of society gradually rendered the general attitude towards women’s creative work more liberal: the artistic expression of actresses and female musicians became freer. However, the shift in public consciousness and the transformation of values was not fast enough. Traditions of social life and the stereotypes of gender cohesion resulted in diverse public reflections on these changes for a long period of time: women were often subjected to one set of standards on the stage and another set of standards when off the stage. The theatrical and concert life of Vilnius, Lithuania’s major culture hub, witnessed more and more examples (both local and foreign) that reflected the change in female self-expression. On the theatre stage, actresses demonstrated unusually bold means of acting expression (admittedly, this phenomenon was partly due to the epochal changes in theatre art), dared to play male roles. The number of female soloists in concerts was growing: female singers and pianists had to compete with violinists. Although with caution (triggered by the position of the instrument while playing it), female cellists were admitted to the cultural space. It should be noted that the striving of a woman – an actress or a musician –to break or ignore the deep-rooted public stereotypes would often receive a controversial response from the public and the reviewers of cultural events.

Intelligent Construction and Flexible Construction

Today, in the digital era, all walks of life have diversified development under the penetration of information technology, and the traditional construction industry is inevitably combined with information technology to move toward the direction of intelligent construction. As a broad concept, intelligent construction includes many theories and multiple directions of research, from design to construction to post-maintenance, while flexible construction focuses on the organization of production mode. In this paper, through the comparative analysis of intelligent construction and flexible construction, the framework of intelligent construction and flexible construction is established to deepen the understanding of the two modes, so as to correctly control the direction of intelligent development, and provide a basis for the construction mode of the intelligent era.

Managing a Mature Coastal Tourism Destination: The Case of Pattaya, Thailand

<p>This thesis develops the concept of destination management with a particular focus on the management of a local destination. It concentrates on seeking to understand what constitutes the general concept of destination management, exploring management practices, and clarifying the overall management of the local destination. In the absence of previous literature, a conceptual framework is developed from the bodies of literature in tourism, management, inter-organizational relationships, and integrated coastal management. This framework illustrates aspects, issues, and dimensions that are relevant to destination management and provides a structure for the analysis of destination management in Pattaya, Thailand. Given the exploratory nature of the study, a multi-phase case study is used. A mix of holistic and embedded cases is used to obtain broad and in-depth data relevant to the concept and practice of destination management. Pattaya, as one of the major coastal resorts in Thailand, is selected as the case study as tourism has been developed there for several decades and its diverse problems provide a range of management challenges. Its major tourism attractions - beaches, nightlife, Pattaya Music Festival - are examined as embedded cases. In addition to secondary data, semi-structured interviews and observation are used to collect primary data. The broad concept of destination management is developed first and then used as a basis to examine the nature and extent of destination management in Pattaya. The conceptual framework provides a structure to analyze the individual embedded cases and to compare commonalities and differences between their management processes and structures and their implications for the practice of destination management. The research reveals that there is a relationship between the practitioners' perspectives on a tourism destination and on destination management, and that there is a relationship between their initial perspectives on destination management and their management practices that occur at the destination. Destination management is defined as "the collaboration of relevant agencies responsible for providing multiple tourism products at the destination in a way to achieve common goals or destination goals." The research also highlights that destination management requires the integration of management agencies, of management purposes, and of management activities at the destination scale. In Pattaya, varying levels of integration occur and relevant agencies are commonly involved with managing aspects of tourism rather than the destination as a whole. The embedded cases reveal that two main forms of management occur in Pattaya: daily operations and project management. Daily management is practised by single agencies to achieve individual organizational goals and is evident in most aspects of beach management and the management of dispersed nightlife activities. Project-based management involves the pursuit of project goals and is carried out by committees, for example, Walking Street Committee and the Pattaya Music Festival Committees. A lack of common goals and low levels of integration are factors which lead to an absence of destination management. The formulation of destination goals and a scaled-up project management structure is suggested as one means of fostering destination management.</p>

Governing Sustainable Subjects: Environmentality in Polity, Economy and Civil Society

<p>“Sustainability” is a broad concept that is used to guide a diverse range of government policies, corporate governance practices, and environmental movements; promote ethical and ‘green’ consumer products; and to transform existing production and consumption practices, to name but a few. While these various manifestations of sustainability differ from one another, they appear to be linked by a shared narrative. In this thesis, I utilise Norman Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis to investigate if and why sustainability discourses share a common narrative. I focus on the relationship between the management of the population and the supposed boundaries between the state, market, and civil society by exploring the emergence of the terms “environmental sustainability” and “sustainable consumption” within the practices and narratives of governance and self-regulation. By combining Slavoj Zizek’s notion of ideology with Timothy W. Luke’s concept of environmentality, and Michel Foucault’s conceptions of governmentality and power, I argue that the governmentalisation of sustainability is the common thread that runs through the three narratives that I analyse. More specifically, I argue that quotidian sustainability narratives have the effect of regulating human conduct through largely apolitical and technical understandings of environmental problems, disciplinary practices, and practices of the self that appear to remove risk from the act of consumption and everyday life.</p>