Review Essay: Enlightenment Lost?

Lost Enlightenment and Polymaths of Islam, each analyzing a different but linked period of Central Asian civilization, is each a masterwork of scholarship. Each author, now at a different stage in his academic career, has put to good use a bevy of languages to unveil the achievements of societies and ways of life smothered by the Sturm und Drang of life including great power aggressions. S. Frederick Starr has led Soviet as well as Central Asian research institutes based in Washington, D.C. He was the first director of the Kennan Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and later the founding chairman of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute and Silk Road Studies Program, now affiliated with the American Foreign Policy Institute. James Pickett is Assistant Professor of Eurasian History at the University of Pittsburgh. Each author has done research in Russia and Central Asia.

Diverse Caregivers in the United States: Implications for Caregiving Across the Lifespan

Caregivers with diverse backgrounds make up an important part of the landscape of caregiving in the US. Their unique experiences have been traditionally under-researched in the field of social sciences and underrecognized by society. To further understand the impact of race, ethnicity, class, gender and sexuality onto caregiving, the National Alliance for Caregiving (NAC) and the AARP Public Policy Institute commissioned an in-depth analysis of the dataset collected from the Caregiving in the US 2020 study, which segments populations based on ethnic and sexual identity, geographic location, and income level. Utilizing survey interviews with 1,392 caregivers in the US, this study found differences amongst the African-American, Latinx, and Asian American-Pacific Islander populations in relation to age, time spent caregiving, ADL/IADLs, caregiving strain and intensity, receipt of formal and informal support, and financial impact. In consideration of the distinct challenges presented by diverse caregiving throughout the lifespan, this presentation will also feature results from a 2020-2021 Diverse Elders Coalition and NAC commissioned study on the unmet caregiving needs in diverse communities. 11 virtual listening sessions were held with 400 caregivers of color, including American Indian/Alaska Native caregivers, and LGBTQ caregivers across the nation. Presentation attendees can expect to learn new insights into the experiences of diverse caregivers, while also gaining a fresh understanding of informal and formal support preferences with a multicultural lens. Finally, this presentation will provide recommendations to further prioritize the needs of historically marginalized caregivers in policy and practice.

The Effects of Children’s Smartphone Addiction on Sleep Duration: The Moderating Effects of Gender and Age

Background: Smartphones are an important part of children’s and adolescents’ lives, and they often spend a lot of time using them. This study aims to precisely discover the effects of smartphone addiction on sleep duration as moderated by age and gender. Materials and methods: The data utilized in this study are from the ‘Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey 2018′ by the National Youth Policy Institute; a total of 4940 youths (2399 in grade 4 and 2541 in grade 7) from the survey were analyzed by Stata 15.0 S. The dependent variable is sleep duration, and the independent variables are the sub-factors of smartphone addiction: disturbance of adaptive functions, virtual life orientation, withdrawal, and tolerance. An independent t-test was conducted to confirm the differences in the main variables according to gender and age. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to verify the moderating effects of gender and age in the relationship between children’s smartphone addiction and sleep duration. Results: First, the average sleep duration among grade 4 students was 9.17 h and grade 7 students was 7.96 h. Second, sleep duration was significantly higher for males than females, while there was no difference in smartphone addiction by gender. Third, smartphone addiction, particularly the sub-factor of tolerance significantly affected sleep duration. Fourth, age significantly affected sleep duration and gender had a moderating effect on sleep duration. Conclusions: Interventions to develop a healthy smartphone usage culture on family and societal levels would be beneficial for increasing awareness of smartphone addiction and its adverse effects on children and adolescents. Furthermore, targeted intervention would be more effective at modifying addictive behavior and sleep duration than trying to administer blanket interventions to youths as a whole.

Policy Implementation Performance Related to the Procurement of PRB Drugs in the Subdistrict Primary Healthcare Center Pharmacy and PRB Pharmacy in Central Jakarta Quarter I, II, and III of 2019

Back-Referral Program (PRB) is one way to improve the quality of the health services for BPJS participants in conducting quality control and cost control. The unavailability of pharmacies and drugs for PRB causes the PRB program not to run optimally, thus increasing the catastrophic disease sufferers and absorbing big claims in JKN. This study is qualitative research with a descriptive approach using the method of in-depth interviews and document review. The research informants' criteria were: the elements of the leadership and policy management officers in the DKI Jakarta Provincial Health Office, Central Jakarta Health Office, Central Jakarta BPJS Health Center, Central Jakarta District Health Center, and Central Jakarta PRB Pharmacy. The results showed that the implementation performance was not optimal, which was influenced by policy standards and objectives, resources, communication between organizations, the implementers' attitude, the implementing organization's characteristics, and the economic, social, and politics. Coordination, commitment, and evaluation of activities from the Ministry of Health, BPJS Health, Government Service Goods Procurement Policy Institute, and DKI Jakarta Provincial Health Office are needed in terms of the availability of this PRB drug.

Performance implications of combining creative and imitative innovation strategies

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the performance effects of pure innovation strategies (creative and imitative) versus the combination of the two innovation strategies (combination innovation strategy) and to determine whether implementing the combination innovation strategy produces an incremental performance benefit over the pure innovation strategies.Design/methodology/approachWe used archival data from the Korea Innovation Survey (KIS) completed by a large sample of South Korea manufacturing firms and some financial data provided by the South Korea Science and Technology Policy Institute (STEPI). We used hierarchical multiple regression analysis to analyze the data from 486 firms.FindingsThe findings indicated that firms implementing any of the three innovation strategies of creative innovation, imitative innovation and combination innovation outperforms noninnovators. Results also show that while firms implementing the combination innovation strategy perform better than those implementing imitative innovation strategies, they do not significantly differ in performance from firms implementing the creative innovation strategy. Moreover, we find no performance difference between creative innovation and imitative innovation strategies.Practical implicationsThe study highlights the importance of combination innovation strategies for manufacturing firms that rely on imitative innovation strategies to gain competitive advantage in the market. However, it demonstrates that firms that are successful in using creative innovation strategies must use their resources in exploiting that advantage.Originality/valueAlthough extant studies have demonstrated the importance of both creative innovation and imitative innovation strategies in enhancing performance, it is not clear whether implementing both strategies at the same time has incremental value for firms. This study focusses on empirically examining the performance implications of creative innovation and imitative innovation strategies, and whether the pursuit of a combination innovation strategy (simultaneous pursuit of both innovation strategies) provides any incremental benefit is unique.

An explanation from customers’ perspectives for difficulties in developing nursing-home service in Vietnam – A study in Ho Chi Minh City

Even though the demand for a nursing home is increasing, it is not easily-accepted in Vietnam because of cultural traditions which nomally link to morality, affection, relational cohesion, responsibility, relatives’ and friends’ opinions, etc. According to a study conducted by the Health Strategy and Policy Institute in 2012, Vietnamese people think that no one takes care of their parents better than children. That might be the reason why nursing home services have not developed well in Vietnam. This study aims to (1) explore attributes of nursing home preventing Vietnamese customers from using this service, and (2) explore the connections between these attributes and values of individuals through consequences from these attributes. The mean-end-chain theory with a soft-laddering interview is the method employed to conduct the study. Participants are persons who are responsible for making decisions related to nursing home matters, including elder people and ones having elder people in their families and being responsible to send their parents/grandparents to the nursing homes. The research findings show that there are 15 attributes of nursing home service, which drive to 4 values through 9 consequences, preventing Vietnamese customers from using this service. The result from the HVM states that there are three significant A-C-V linkages to explain what attributes and how they influence customers (perceived) values. The study also proposes some suggestions to promote nursing home service and encourage Vietnamese customers to accept this kind of service.

The Longitudinal Relationships Between Cyber Delinquency, Aggression, and Offline Delinquency: An Autoregressive Cross-Lagged Model

Cyber delinquency in adolescence is a particular area of concern for psychologists owing to its association with several mental health issues and its potential link with offline delinquency. This longitudinal study examined the stability of changes and directions of influence in adolescents’ cyber delinquency, aggression, and offline delinquency across a 4-year period. Our sample consisted of 2,280 adolescents who participated in the Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey conducted by the National Youth Policy Institute in Korea, from 2011 to 2015. Using autoregressive cross-lagged modeling, we found that changes in cyber delinquency, aggression, and offline delinquency were stable over time. There were also multiple cross-lagged effects from early to middle adolescence: cyber delinquency influenced both offline delinquency and aggression, and aggression influenced both cyber and offline delinquency. However, from middle to late adolescence, the only significant effect was that of cyber delinquency on offline delinquency.

Defining Cultural and Linguistic Diversity (CLD) and Its Challenges

The demographic profile in the United States continues to change dramatically. The Migration Policy Institute (2016) reports that the number of CLD students increased by more than 50% in the past decade and the increase will continue. Key issues that surround the CLD population are the role of language and the conflict between their culture of origin and the new and complex culture they experience in the United States, thereby serving as challenges to adaptation and understanding. Authors and researchers confirm that CLD populations experience stigmatization and stereotyping, exacerbating these language and cultural barriers. This study reveals that Latinx and Arab American families are met with ethnic profiling, census labeling, and traumatic experiences. It is important for educational leaders to face these challenges to push past the barriers and assist CLD in achieving academic success and acceptance.