Gerontechnology — new opportunities in the service of older adults

The increasingly more visible trend of population ageing necessitates creating technologies supporting the functioning of older adults. Consequently, more gerontechnologies emerge designed to help the older adults in their daily functioning, from devices monitoring the health to special trolleys improving the mobility or Virtual Reality devices for active learning. This article aimed to determine the most desired group of gerontechnologies among current and future users. It focused on individual assessments of the most desirable group of gerontechnologies based on various criteria. The investigation aimed to find the criterion rated the highest in the selected group of gerontechnologies. The gerontechnology group was assessed against seven groups of criteria distinguished by the authors, i.e., Technology Innovation, Technology Demand, Social and Ethical Criteria, Technology Usability, Technology Functionality, Technology Ease of Use and Technology Use Risk. The survey was conducted in the form of a questionnaire, using CAWI (Computer-Assisted Web Interview) and CATI (Computer-Assisted Telephone Interview) methods, with the research sample comprised of 1 152 residents of Poland. Thus far, no studies have been conducted to evaluate this group of technologies based on the above-mentioned criteria.

Gaya Kepemimpinan Kepala Madrasah dalam Meningkatkan Etika Manajemen di MAN 1 Kota Jambi

This study aims to describe the leadership style of madrasah heads in improving management ethics in MAN 1 Jambi City. This study uses qualitative methods. Data collection techniques using observations, interviews, and documentation. The results found that in improving management ethics in madrasah, the principal adhered to a democratic leadership style. The application of democratic leadership to establish management ethics goes well, resulting in positive values such as values of service orientation, integrity, commitment, discipline, cooperation and all actions based on ethical criteria, namely in terms of benefits, the fulfillment of rights, the justice side, and the maintenance side. There are three values of management ethics obtained, namely personal value as an ethical standard, terminal value (purpose); and instrumental value.

E-LEARNING AND M-LEARNING CONTENT GENERATION AS LEARNING SUPPORT IN ECONOMIC EDUCATION

The knowledge-based economy and the digital world are steadily transforming the teaching of younger generations but also the role and involvement of the teacher in the educational act. Accepting the essential role of economic education in the development of students’ mentalities and abilities, we implicitly recognize the central role played by teachers and teaching methods, as a considerable challenge to transform education, focus on active learning, providing students with new experiences inside and outside the classroom, involving modern methods of learning and experimentation. Generating digital educational content, as well as designing instructional tools that allow easy access to students of this content requires an effort of adaptation by educators for new educational realities. Digital literacy of teachers is necessary, as the first condition, and then it is necessary to form skills that allow the generation of content with characteristics adapted to educational needs, respecting quality criteria and ethical criteria. In this paper, the author also aims to present the ASQ platform as a space where teachers can create digital content, which can be shared nationally with other educators and which can be used successfully in specific economics classrooms.

Presenting an Admirable Self: Moral Evaluation within the Interview

This article considers the complicated nature of self-reporting within the in-depth interview. Despite the adoption of ethnographic methods in Christian ethics and related disciplines, the accuracy of interview data has received relatively little attention. Drawing upon my fieldwork with Christian social workers in the American southeast, as well as sociological and anthropological sources, I argue that research participants frequently endeavor to present an admirable portrait of themselves. Through selecting, omitting, and revising their stories, they undertake a kind of moral work, assessing their actions and attitudes according to available ethical criteria. Broader cultural norms, their own moral ideals, and anticipations of the interviewer’s judgments all supply resources for self-evaluation. Rather than presenting a methodological problem, understanding this possible dynamic within the interview supplies the Christian ethicist with firsthand insights into the moral labors of naming a good life.

LEGAL AND ETHICAL ASPECTS OF PROMOTION OF DRUGS IN SPECIALIZED PRINTED MEDIA

The article presents the results of assessing the quality of information used in the promotion of drugs in specialized pharmaceutical print media (PM). The research was carried out on 224 unique promotional modules about medicinal products, placed in specialized PMs. The content of the modules was assessed for compliance with the requirements of federal laws "On Circulation of Medicines", "On Advertising" and the criteria of the Code of Good Practice of the Association of International Pharmaceutical Manufacturers (AIMP). The analysis of the mechanisms of legislative support for the promotion of drugs in specialized PMs showed that the existing requirements are fragmented and vague in terms of content, which can lead to a violation of the principle of balancing information about drugs when making a professional decision on their appointment or recommendation. Existing regulatory requirements do not provide professional information needs of specialists, since they do not meet the criteria for completeness and reliability of information presentation, which creates the problem of specialists seeking additional professional information to ensure the rational use of medicinal products. The obtained results of the study indicate the discrepancy of the entire studied set of promotional modules about drugs in specialized PMs with the ethical criteria for promoting drugs. In modern conditions, due to insufficient legislative regulation of the content component of drug promotion among healthcare professionals and the fragmentary observance of ethical standards for drug promotion in specialized PMs, the role and relevance of specialized PMs as a source of professional information about drugs for pharmaceutical workers is lost.

AN ALTERNATIVE FRAMEWORK FOR SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE PORTFOLIOS OPTIMIZATION APPLIED TO THE MOROCCAN STOCK EXCHANGE

The purpose of this article is to propose an alternative approach for portfolio optimization combining financial and ethical constraints in one hand, and objective and subjective investor’s preferences in the other hand. This approach intends to support investors in selecting and optimizing financial and social portfolio’s performances. More precisely, we introduce analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to measure the ethical performance (EP) score of each asset considering ethical criteria. For its part, fuzzy multiple criteria decision making (FMCDM) is used to determine the overall financial quality score of assets with respect to key financial criteria i.e., short term return, long term return, and risk. Besides, interactive fuzzy programming approach is applied to support the investor’s decision, considering its subjective preferences. The robustness of our approach is tested through an empirical study involving the case of the Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE). The results give evidence that the Socially Responsible (SR) Portfolio have performed similar to the conventional one, as no significant differences were found in term of return. However, the SR portfolio allows the investor to achieve his ethical goal, against a slight financial sacrifice.

Prescribers Perception on Drug Promotional Literatures in A Tertiary Care Hospital in Nepal

Background: Drug promotional literatures can often be misleading and have biased information and can contribute to irrational use of medicines. Thus, it is necessary that prescribers critically analyze the drug promotional literatures presented to them. This study attempts to understand if the prescribers at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital are aware about the necessary information that should be present in a drug promotional literature.Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted over six months in which prescribers at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital were provided with the self-administered questionnaire and were requested to submit the filled in questionnaire. Prescribers presently working at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, attending out patient department services and had received drug promotional literatures within last six months were included in this study. Results: During the study, 163 of the received questionnaires met the inclusion criteria and were utilized for analysis. Advertisement, reminder items and others type of drug promotional literatures were commonly received by prescribers included in our study. Higher proportion of faculties (35.29%) preferred reprint type of drug promotional literatures. Most of the participants (47.85%) searched for 5-8 WHO-Ethical Criteria for Medicinal Drug Promotion criteria when referring a drug promotional literature. It was seen that 42.94% of prescribers realised that at least two out of four types of information related to negative attribute of the promoted medicines were missing.Conclusions: The prescribers with least duration of clinical exposure are more likely to always prescribe the medicines promoted to them. Prescribers were more confident on claims made in drug promotional literatures if they were supported using scientific evidences.Keywords: Drug promotional literatures; prescriber perception;WHO-ECMDP

Mises and Rothbard On War Finance

Inside the «economics of war» field of study, very few economists have tried to build a systematic theory of the consequences of the different methods of financing wars. Even fewer economists have ever attempted to elaborate a theory that meets both efficiency and ethical criteria. The first studies in this field can be traced back to the late scholastics. Francisco Suarez (1548-1617) and Francisco de Vitoria (1486-1546) are well known as founders of international law studies. The latter, using his characteristic juridical approach to ethical problems, concludes that the prince can use no neutral person or private property in order to wage a war1. But it was Juan de Mariana (1536-1623) who first tried to unite the ethical and the economic dimension of war finance. Mariana started by analyzing the question of the resources the prince is allowed to use for waging a war. His answer could be described as a libertarian answer; the king is not the owner of the properties of his subjects, and thus, he cannot dispose of them at his whim but only after having gained the acceptance of the owner. Then he turned to the different financial tools, and he described the economic consequences of their use. After dealing with the effects of taxation, inflation and the king’s credit, he recommended that both the king and the citizens be aware of the ethical and practical point of views2. After Mariana, very few thinkers have worked on war finance combining both approaches. In this last century the Austrian School of Economics has contributed to the development of the war finance theory by the hand of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard. The first, concentrated his analysis on the possible use of the means to wage a war, and their consequences. On the contrary Rothbard´s approach is known for its focus on the ethical approach to war finance.

Just War Doctrine – Relic or Relevant?

In the article, I examine the relevance of Just War Doctrine to contemporary conflicts. Just War Doctrine, which grew out of Western Christian thinking, presupposes that evil might be confronted with force, if there is no alternative way to restore a just order. But modern trends call into question the certainty and universality of this doctrine. On the one hand, ideas of moral relativism and comparative justice have become more widespread, potentially undermining the use of the notions “just” and “justified” in relation to military conflicts. On the other hand, the nature of war is changing, as warfare is no longer only kinetic in character. I offer examples of how the evolving character of warfare challenges the traditional understanding of Just War Doctrine. For example, there is the growing threat of cyber warfare, but the ethical criteria for its use are not defined. In relation to Just War Doctrine, questions of whether and when pre-emptive cyber attack is permissible arise, what should constitute legitimate targets of cyber warfare and to what degree collateral damage could be acceptable. Another challenge to the traditional understanding of Just of War Doctrine was the putative doctrine of humanitarian intervention. Prima facie, humanitarian interventions do not comply with ius ad bellum criteria of Just War Doctrine, because of the absence of a direct military threat to the intervening state. The justification of humanitarian intervention is based on the assertion of an intolerable violation of accepted values. The weakness of such approach, as discussed in the article, is that it implicitly assumes that one protagonist’s values are superior to others. A further example of emerging challenges to Just War Doctrine is the phenomenon of hybrid war, a term used to describe a type of conflict that is multi-faceted and in which kinetic warfare is not dominant. The orchestration of several strands of conflict, each designed to be below the threshold to provoke a military response, exploits the absence of legal and ethical norms regulating such activity. I conclude the article by suggesting that, firstly, for Just War Doctrine to remain relevant, it should be expanded to include harms caused by non-kinetic actions, and, secondly, the distinctions between the states of war and peace should be redefined to reflect the changing character of war more accurately.