The aim of this hermeneutic study was to gain a broader understanding of nurses’ workload and what characterizes a nurse’s experience in terms of the various levels of intensity of nursing care. Twenty-nine nurses participated in seven focus groups. The interpretation process took place in six different phases and the three laws of dialectics were used as interpretation rules. An optimal nursing care intensity level can be understood as a situation characterized by the balance between the intensity of care needed (...) by patients and the external and internal factors of the current nursing care situation. The nurses’ work situation can be understood as a dialectic struggle between ‘being’ and ‘not being’ a good nurse; this can be said to be the underlying root metaphor. Nursing care can be understood as consisting of ‘complex and meaningful caring situations’. Dialectics can be used as a fruitful method of revealing the complexity of clinical reality. (shrink)

En la época islámica, Apolonio de Tiana (15-100 d.C.) era conocido tanto como “Señor de los talismanes” (ṣāḥib al-ṭilasmāt), así como filósofo neopitagórico y hermético. En su Kitāb al-Aḥŷār, Ŷabir b. Ḥayyān habla de “los defensores musulmanes de Apolonio” (aṣḥāb Balīnās al-Islāmīyūn). La referencia muestra que el trabajo más prominente de Apolonio, Sirr al-jalīqa, ya era famoso en el mundo de habla árabe desde muy temprano. Este artículo proporciona una visión general de las citas de Apolonio en las fuentes islámicas (...) de diferentes campos y de las obras, generalmente, atribuidas a él. Además, reviso en Sirr al-jalīqa, sus influencias en las obras ŷābirianas y su recepción en la tradición ismailí. Este artículo aborda además el comentario árabe de Sirr aljalīqa de ‘Awn b. al-Munḏir (IV/X), conservado en un manuscrito único, y cuya traducción persa era hasta ahora desconocida. Dicha traducción cubre fragmentos del trabajo de Ibn al-Munḏir, no disponibles en árabe, y, por lo tanto, es una fuente sustancial para la historia de la alquimia islámica. Una edición de la traducción persa se presenta como apéndice. (shrink)

Trust is a central dimension in the relation between human beings and technologies. In many discourses about technology, the relation between human beings and technologies is conceptualized as an external relation: a relation between pre-given entities that can have an impact on each other but that do not mutually constitute each other. From this perspective, relations of trust can vary between _reliance_, as is present for instance in technological extensionism, and _suspicion_, as in various precautionary approaches in ethics that focus (...) on technological risks. Against these two interpretations of trust, this article develops a third one. Based on a more internal account of the relations between human beings and technologies, it becomes possible to see that every technological development puts at stake what it means to be a human being. Using technologies, then, implies trusting ourselves _to_ technologies. We argue that this does not imply an uncritical subjection to technology. Rather, recognizing that technologies help to constitute human subjectivity implies that human beings can get actively involved in processes of technological mediation. Trust then has the character of _confidence_: deliberately trusting oneself _to_ technology. (shrink)

Background: One of the main concerns in critical care units is the development of humanistic approaches. In this regard, recognizing the factors affecting humanistic nursing can contribute to humanizing nursing care in these units. Objective: The objective was to recognize the influential factors of humanistic nursing in critical care units. Research design: This qualitative study was carried out using a phenomenology method. Thirty-nine in-depth unstructured interviews were performed. The data were analyzed using the phenomenological nursology approach. To guarantee trustworthiness, prolonged (...) engagement, member check, triangulation of resources, and maximum variation sampling were used. Participants and research context: Purposeful sampling was employed to select 10 nurses, 8 patients, and 4 patient’s relatives from the intensive care unit and critical care unit departments. Ethical consideration: This study was approved by the ethics committee of Lorestan University of Medical Sciences with the code of LUMS.REC.1395.121. Finding: The participants’ experiences were reflected in the following three main concepts: moral, educational, and existential nature of the two humans involved in the interaction; maintenance of the nurses’ dignity; and interactions in the cultural and social context. Discussion: The nurse and patient, organizational environment, and society give rise to a set of intertwined characteristics which influence the realization of humanistic nursing. By affecting the nurses’ educational background and maintaining their dignity, the atmosphere of the hospital and cultural readiness of the society pave the way for delivering the humanistic care. (shrink)

Summary Mats Wahlberg argues that evolutionary theodicies fail to show how an evolutionary process was necessary in order to reach the goal God is said to have had when creating our world. The authors of this article argue that Wahlberg‘s critique fails if one takes into consideration the distinction between type- and token-values. The question that guides Wahlberg‘s discussion is whether or not unique type-values require an evolution in order to be instantiated or not. He does not, however, discuss whether (...) unique token-values require evolution. This article will address this question, and argue that the theodicies he claims to fail does not do so for the reasons put forward by Wahlberg if interpreted as focusing on token-unique values. The authors will also argue that theodicies other than those evaluated by Wahlberg succeed in identifying type-unique values that can only be brought about through evolution. (shrink)

Asle Eikrem strives to develop a systematic philosophical understanding of the constitutive structures of religious discourses. Different philosophical traditions (phenomenology, hermeneutics, pragmatics, metaphysics or analytical philosophical thinking) have articulated these structures in their own distinctive ways. The author aims to show how insights from partly conflicting traditions can be coherently reconstructed within the framework of a comprehensive philosophical presentation. The central thesis guiding his work is inspired by the deep-metaphysics of German philosopher Lorenz B. Puntel, and states that the (...) relation between the pragmatic, semantic and ontological structures of religious discourses must be understood as internally necessary. They cannot be thought independently from each other. The pragmatic and semantic structures of religious discourses must be understood as substructures in a comprehensive ontological dimension (Being) that is characterized as practicable and expressible. (shrink)

This article investigates the conceptual foundations of technological innovation and development projects that aim to bring ethical and social issues into the design stage. Focusing on the ethics and social impact of technological innovation and development has been somewhat of a trend lately, for instance in ELSA research and in such initiatives as the Dutch Responsible Innovation programme. I argue that in order to succeed in doing social responsible and ethical sound design, a proper understanding of the relation between technology (...) and society is required. I propose to move away from an externalist framework, in which technology and society are depicted as being defined independently, towards an interdependent framework, where technology and society are regarded to be mutually defining. This move is necessary in order for such innovation projects not to reinforce outdated concepts about technology, which in the longer run will prove counterproductive to the actual aims of the projects themselves. (shrink)

Talk about God is often the source of controversy. Theists and atheists are equally passionate when making their stand for or against belief in God. In this book, a wide range of philosophers of religion have come together to discuss how serious talk about God ought to be conducted for theists and atheists alike in what should be their common pursuit for truth. The essays both address methodological questions and provide a range of concrete samples of serious God-talk, spanning from (...) political, religion, and classical proofs of God's existence to the problem of evil. (Series: Nordic Studies in Theology / Nordische Studien zur Atheism, Vol. 4) [Subject: Religious Studies]Ã?Â?Ã?Â? (shrink)

Faith and Islam -- Honesty and veracity -- Belief in God -- Generosity and contentment -- Belief in the angels -- Fairness, selflessness and mercy -- Belief in divine books -- Friendship, hypocrisy and jealousy -- Belief in the Prophets -- Sincerity and patience -- Belief in the hereafter -- Backbiting and sinful suspicion -- Belief in divine destiny -- Humility tolerance and politeness -- Ablution and the daily prayers -- Seriousness, piety and dignity -- Prayer -- Respect to parents (...) and maintaining the bonds of kinship -- Fasting -- Secrecy and constultation -- Prescribed purifying alms and charity -- Distinction of the lawful and unlawful, loyalty and fidelity -- The major and minor pilgrimage -- Justice, chastity and modesty. (shrink)

© The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Japanese Society of Plant Physiologists. All rights reserved.Cell walls of grasses, including cereal crops and biofuel grasses, comprise the majority of plant biomass and intimately influence plant growth, development and physiology. However, the functions of many cell wall synthesis genes, and the relationships among and the functions of cell wall components remain obscure. To better understand the patterns of cell wall accumulation and identify genes that act in grass (...) cell wall biosynthesis, we characterized 30 samples from aerial organs of rice at 10 developmental time points, 3-100 d post-germination. Within these samples, we measured 15 cell wall chemical components, enzymatic digestibility and 18 cell wall polysaccharide epitopes/ligands. We also used quantitative reverse transcription-PCR to measure expression of 50 glycosyltransferases, 15 acyltransferases and eight phenylpropanoid genes, many of which had previously been identified as being highly expressed in rice. Most cell wall components vary significantly during development, and correlations among them support current understanding of cell walls. We identified 92 significant correlations between cell wall components and gene expression and establish nine strong hypotheses for genes that synthesize xylans, mixed linkage glucan and pectin components. This work provides an extensive analysis of cell wall composition throughout rice development, identifies genes likely to synthesize grass cell walls, and provides a framework for development of genetically improved grasses for use in lignocellulosic biofuel production and agriculture. (shrink)

Technical mediation shapes our experience of the world, but it also shapes our experience of ourselves. In this paper, I argue that in order to understand the latter aspect of technical mediation, we need to expand on notions of technical mediation that focuses on actual use, and bring in possible use as well. The concept of technical mediation must therefore be grounded in a more general concept of technological presence. This concept indicates that technology harbours both actuality and potentiality, the (...) latter denoting that technologies offer possible actions, through which we realise specific actions, and, more importantly, realise ourselves; it is through the technological presence in our lifeworld we are able to recognise our own possibilities to be in and act in the lifeworld. The technologically revealed possibilities enable the subject to be constituted in a temporal forward-directedness, so that technological potentiality becomes co-constitutive of the subjects that we are and may become. (shrink)

By focusing on the known details of Laonikos Chalkokondyles’ biography, on his relation to Byzantine historiographical tradition, by comparing his historical work to that of contemporary intellectuals living under the Ottomans as well as those in the west, examining his portrayal of Mehmed II, his adoption of a Herodotean model, the revival of Herodotus in the Renaissance more generally, and the reception of the ᾿Aπόδειξις in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, I argue that Laonikos was writing for an elite circle (...) of Byzantine émigrés and other intellectuals with access to classical Greek in the west, rather than for the post- Byzantine intellectuals associated with the Ottoman court. (shrink)

The aim of this study was to assess the attitudes of Turkish pregnant women and antenatal health care providers towards prenatal HIV testing. A self-administered questionnaire was used. The relationships between the different groups' knowledge and attitudes were analysed by using the chi-squared statistic. A total of 494 pregnant women and 181 care providers participated. Forty-four per cent of the pregnant women thought that prenatal HIV testing should be mandatory, and 84% of the health care providers thought it should be (...) performed routinely or be mandatory. The majority of the pregnant women (74%) and half of the care providers agreed that the test results should be disclosed first to the pregnant woman. The study results also revealed that most of the prenatal care providers would not protect pregnant women's autonomy and privacy, contrary to the pregnant women's own preferences. It is essential to establish national prenatal HIV testing policies in order to prevent unethical practices and ensure satisfaction for pregnant women and health care providers. (shrink)

The examination of power, space, and identity formation within diasporic literature has garnered significant attention due to the escalating global mobility of migrants across the world. This article studies the complex integration of spatial hierarchy, civil violence, and gendered responses to power representations in Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel, The Lowland (2013). We utilise Henri Lefebvre’s theories to dissect the spatial dynamics of the novel across three dimensions: representations of space and conceived space, spatial practice and perceived space, and representational space and (...) lived space. Lefebvre’s framework is instrumental in understanding how physical and conceptual spaces can simultaneously serve as tools for domination and sites for transformative resistance. The novel weaves distinct spatial realms, such as the exclusive Tolly Club and the diminishing lowland, to symbolise postcolonialism and state control. The findings highlight how conceived space is portrayed as a postcolonial realm marked by violence and gendered spatial injustice, reflecting male dominance and societal norms that suppress female subjectivity. However, the study also reveals that this conformity is not static but showcases the agency of female characters like Gauri and Bijoli in resisting and renegotiating spatial constraints. (shrink)

The rise of transrealism in the second half of the twentieth century embellished the literary landscape in America with a new mode of expression that offered new understanding of time, space, identity, and social values and norms. This study situates the American novelist Kurt Vonnegut’s Player Piano within this literary context to map out the qualities that distinguish it as a transrealistic fiction. We argue that through innovative coalescence of fantasy and realism, this postmodern novel provides a satirical commentary against (...) the incongruities of the contemporary American society. To analyse the novel, we employ Rudy Rucker’s theorisations of the movement that delineates the transrealist manifesto as a union of realism, fantasy, and science-fiction. The findings reveal that through a satirical representation of the current advancements in technology and their inevitably negative impact on human life and society, the novel provides a dystopian picture of modern life in America. This apocalyptic sentiment is reinforced through a creative convergence of the surreal features of science-fiction, the tropes of naturalistic realism, and the elements of satire that together help to accentuate the deficiencies and ironies of the modern American society as well as the rampant misuse of technology by both individuals and authorities. (shrink)

The use of robotic technology in healthcare is increasing. The aim was to explore attitudes toward the use of humanoid robots in healthcare among patients, relatives, care professionals, school actors and other relevant actors in healthcare and to analyze the associations between participants’ background variables and attitudes. The data were collected through a cross-sectional survey (N = 264) in 2018 where participants met a humanoid robot. The survey was comprised of background variables and items from a modified Robot Attitude Scale. (...) Multiple linear regression analysis and Spearman’s Rho correlation were used to analyze associations between variables. Most of the participants were positive toward the use of humanoid robots in healthcare and only a few were negative. Attitudes toward the use of humanoid robots were more positive among other relevant actors, such as service personnel and politicians in healthcare, participants with a higher educational level and older adults. More research is needed on the reasons underlying negative attitudes because these might affect the introduction of humanoid robots in healthcare. A careful evaluation of appropriate first target groups as well as which tasks are appropriate for humanoid robots to perform in healthcare are needed. (shrink)

Bangladesh experienced a massive surge in humanitarian crises after the 1971 Liberation War due to the systematic use of violence at both public and private spheres. Fictional accounts of the post-conflict period depict women as subjected to institutionalised sexism and aggravated physical and mental violence. Critical studies on such narratives often reiterate a stereotypical and essentialising discourse surrounding women’s identity, characterising them as helpless and passive victims of discrimination and exploitation. Drawing upon Judith Butler’s notions of precarity and agency, we (...) argue that the Bangladeshi-born British writer Tahmima Anam’s The Good Muslim transcends victimhood narratives by creating a more nuanced image of woman as vulnerable victims and resisting subjects at the same time. The novel is preoccupied with notions of vulnerability, violence, religious zealotry, and family estrangement. The findings reveal that the precariousness of women in the post-war period is caused and aggravated by violence and oppression perpetrated at political, social, and religious spheres. Female characters like Maya and Piya are presented as empowered agents of transformation when it comes to vulnerable situations that render them as insignificant and precarious. The study concludes that the novel contests and alters the stereotypical representations of women embedded in normalising and hegemonic discourses. (shrink)

This article describes the experience of two educators in a master program in Pedagogy in the Netherlands. Their experience is of an online gathering with students and educators that took place during the COVID-19 pandemic. Students and educators were not allowed to meet face-to-face, thus resorted to online education. What happened at that online gathering was that the educators observed how the group connected to each other in a way that was reminiscent of the ‘normal’ face-to-face gatherings before the pandemic, (...) but had been absent since the group was forced to meet online. The article starts with individual, subjective descriptions of this experience by the two educators. Subsequently, these so-called thick descriptions are interpreted and analysed. The purpose of zooming in on this particular experience is to gain insight into what pedagogical forms contributed to the enabling of this perceived authentic connectedness in the digital sphere. (shrink)

Background:Nurses are in a key position for reproduction health service delivery. Therefore, it is thought that it would be important to inspect opinions of student nurses, who will be health employees in the future, about self-induced abortion to develop women health and public health.Objectives:The goal of this study is to inspect opinions of nursing students with different sociocultural specialties, about self-induced abortions.Research design:It is qualitative type and planned with ethnographic research pattern.Participants and research context:The study was conducted with 20 last-term (...) students of Kırşehir Ahi Evran University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Nursing, who were chosen by maximum diversity sampling technique. Interviews were made with semi-structured interview form and voice records during the study; data were analyzed with content analyzing method.Ethical considerations:Permission from the organization, university ethics committee, and personal approvals were taken from participants to conduct the research.Findings:Based on the analysis, two major themes on self-induced abortion in Turkish nursing students were found: dilemma of traditional perspective and professional identity and occupational awareness.Discussion and conclusion:It is seen that there is a dilemma between traditional point of view and professional identities about self-induced abortion for nursing students, but they had occupational awareness. It should be recommended to give information about national and international licit legislations for reproductive health, self-induced abortion, and setting up ethical discussion environments for nursing students. (shrink)

Background:Advance care planning gives patients and their family members the possibility to consider and make decisions regarding future care and medical procedures.Aim:To explore the view of people in the early stage of dementia on planning for future care.Research design:The study is a qualitative interview study with a semistructured interview guide. The data were analyzed according to the Qualitative Analysis Guide of Leuven.Participants and research context:Dementia nurses assisted in the recruiting of people with dementia for participation in the study. Study information (...) was mailed to 95 people with early stage dementia. Ten people with dementia and eight caregiver spouses participated in the study.Ethical considerations:People with dementia belong to a vulnerable patient group, and care was taken in the areas of informed consent and accessible information.Findings:The views of people with dementia are characterized by a complex storyline involving tensions and movement within the themes of wants, beliefs, and levels of insight. Participants wanted to think about the future but also wanted to live in the here and now.Discussion:High demands are placed on the advance care planning process for people with dementia and their family caregivers. A dignity-enhancing approach in dementia care emphasizes the dignity of and respect for this vulnerable and care-dependent patient group.Conclusion:The process of advance care planning in dementia care needs to go beyond person-centered care to a relationship-centered process. The illness trajectory and the impact on autonomy need to be taken into consideration. (shrink)