• Journal of the Korean Institute of Intelligent Systems
• /
• v.27 no.1
• /
• pp.7-14
• /
• 2017

Theoretically, it is known that common beliefs and/or common knowledge cannot be attained in asynchronously distributed multiagent environments, however, it show that some propositions with deadlines can be attained as common beliefs among a set of fully trusted agents even when they communicate to each other asynchronously. Generally, in the multiagent environment, the attainment of common beliefs is approached as a problem of communication, and for the common beliefs paradox that the common beliefs is not attained on a system without communication time restriction is applied to loose coarser granularity and it prove that forming common beliefs is possible by relaxing necessary requirements through the KakaoTalk chatting model. I also experimented with the reasoning function that confirms the common beliefs by inquiring about the common belief generated by implementing the inference function in each agent of the KakaoTalk chatting model. Through utilizing metalogic programming, a formalization of the presentation and reasoning of common beliefs has been achieved, and the group chatting model of KakaoTalk was adopted in experiments to show that common beliefs can be formed among distributed agents using asynchronous communication.

• Research in Mathematical Education
• /
• v.22 no.1
• /
• pp.47-82
• /
• 2019

Pennsylvania is one of the states that adopted the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) and crafted its own standards (The PA Core State Standards). Pennsylvania teachers are required to have a clear understanding of the PA Core Standards. It is timely and appropriate to study Pennsylvania teachers' beliefs, as the standards have been adopted and implemented for several years since the revision of the PA Core Standards (2014). This study examined how eight western Pennsylvania elementary school teachers' beliefs about teaching and learning mathematics related to the SMP. To this end, I conducted an in-depth interview with each participating teacher. The in-depth interviews featured the teachers' overarching mathematical instructional goals and their productive beliefs. Furthermore, I linked these beliefs with the CCSSM Standards for Mathematical Practice (SMP).

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
• /
• v.20 no.11
• /
• pp.17-23
• /
• 2015

In this paper, we propose a plural subject account of group beliefs using grounding concept, which bridges the gap between the two main approaches of ACLs, the mentalistic accounts and the social commitment accounts. The key idea of this Gilbert's plural subject account of group beliefs is to extend the grounding logic into the common ground framework for the semantics of ACLs which is fully verifiable, fully formalized and easily applicable. Thus, we formalize the proper group belief concept using common ground framework and we define the semantics of the primitive speech acts of FIPA-ACL such as inform, request and confirm as case studies. Also, we illustrate our framework on an e-commerce agent purchase negotiation and compare this proposed framework with two traditional semantics for ACLs.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.16 no.16
• /
• pp.7011-7023
• /
• 2015

Background: Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers affecting men globally, constituting the sixth leading cause of cancer related death in males, and the eleventh leading cause of death from cancer in all age groups. In Jordan, prostate cancer is the third most common cancer in the male population, accounting for one third (6.2%) of cancer related deaths and in 2010 alone, 218 (9.4%) new cases were identified. Objective: To assess the effectiveness of different health education interventions aimed at enhancing knowledge, beliefs and intention to screen for prostate cancer. Materials and Methods: A literature search from January 2000 to April 2015 was conducted using the key words "prostate disease," "educational program," "knowledge," "prostate cancer," "demographic factors and prostate cancer," "knowledge and prostate cancer," "education for patients with prostate cancer," "factors that affect intention to screen," "knowledge, beliefs, and intention to screen for prostate cancer," "impact of prostate educational program on beliefs," and "impact of educational program on intention to screen." Results: Majority of studies reviewed indicated that men had low levels of knowledge regarding prostate cancer, and mild to moderate beliefs with good intention to screen for prostate cancer. Conclusions: Most studies indicated that men's knowledge levels about prostate cancer were poor and they had mild to moderate beliefs and intentions to screen for prostate cancer. Therefore, development of an assessment strategy based on the Health Belief Model seems essential. An effectively designed and implemented educational program can help identify the needs and priorities of the target population.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.16 no.8
• /
• pp.3247-3251
• /
• 2015

Background: The attendance rates for cancer screening are low in Japan. Little is actually known about how the Japanese perceive cancer. Since beliefs about illness affect individuals' health care practice, the aim of this study was to explore beliefs about cancer and factors associated with those beliefs, focusing on representative cancer sites. Materials and Methods: Japanese adults (${\geq}20$ years old) who had not been diagnosed with any cancers and were not health care professionals were recruited, using a convenience sampling approach. A total of 91 participants completed questionnaires including open-ended questions. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the responses. Results: Five themes were suggested: (i) a threatening illness that might greatly change one's future life; (ii) basic cancer knowledge; (iii) a curable illness with early detection and adequate treatment; (iv) causes of cancer; and (v) anyone can develop cancer. Families or friends' negative consequences of cancer were associated with negative beliefs about the disease. Gestational cancer was the most representative site of most themes. Conclusions: A threatening illness (e.g., death or incurable illness) was the most common belief among the Japanese laypeople. Importance of early detection and treatments should be more emphasized, and future screening programs should include strategies modifying negative cancer beliefs among Japanese laypeople.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
• /
• v.12 no.4
• /
• pp.159-183
• /
• 2006

The purpose of this study is to investigate Korean primary school English teachers' beliefs on self-directed teaching and learning for facilitating student's self-directed learning. A survey was conducted, using 315 primary school teachers as participants. According to different school areas, sex, English teaching careers, and types of English teaching like classroom teachers or English specialist teachers, beliefs on teachers' self-directed teaching were studied based on class planning, class process, utilization of human resources, development and utilization of teaching materials and class evaluation. The results of this study are as follows: first, differences were not shown except class planning according to teachers from different school areas. Second, sex and beliefs of teachers' self-directed teaching had nothing in common. Third, differences were shown in class planning and class process, according to English teaching careers. Finally, according to types of English teaching, differences were shown in class process and development and utilization of teaching materials. The study suggests that it is necessary to conduct other studies for observing primary English classrooms focusing on teacher's self-directed decision-making.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
• /
• v.10 no.6
• /
• pp.907-916
• /
• 2008

The purposes of this study were to examine the consumer beliefs on the wrongness and occurrence of unethical behaviors in retail settings, to examine the differences in unethical beliefs by consumer characteristics, and to examine the effects of anomie on unethical beliefs. A total of 609 questionnaires collected from a consumer survey were analyzed. Results revealed that respondents tended to perceive illegal activities as the most unethical and the least prevalent behaviors and downloading intellectual properties as the least unethical and the most prevalent behaviors. There were differences by age, marital status, occupation, and education in the four dimensions of unethical beliefs including actively benefiting from illegal/deceiving activities, passively benefiting at the expense of the seller, no harm/no foul, and common but questionable actions. Partial differences were observed by shopping frequency and return experience. Valuelessness of anomie affected actively benefiting from illegal/deceiving activities and no harm/no foul.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
• /
• v.12 no.3
• /
• pp.227-233
• /
• 2012

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of the oral health beliefs of male high school students to their oral health Practices and behavior of male high school students to promote their oral health beliefs and oral health. The subjects in this study were the boys 1, 2 grade who were selected by convenience sampling from three different high schools located in North Jeolla Province. A self-administered survey was conducted from May 20 to June 20, 2010. The collected data were analyzed by SPSS 12.0. The findings of the study were as follows: 1. Regarding oral health beliefs, the most common oral health belief among the students was to consider it necessary to receive dental treatment as early as possible in case of having any dental disease(4.44), and the least dominant oral health belief was to spend a lot of time talking with others about dental treatment(2.73). 2. As a result of analyzing their oral health beliefs according to general characteristics, religion and experiences of visiting dental clinics made statistically significant differences to oral health beliefs(p<0.05). The students who were in the upper grades outdid their counterparts in oral health practices(p<0.01), and those who were religious excelled the others who weren't in that aspect(p<0.001). 3. As for the links between oral health beliefs and oral health practices, the students scored highest in toothbrushing(3.65), and the students whose oral health beliefs were better were statistically significant different from the others whose oral health beliefs were worse in all the toothbrushing, use of oral hygiene supplies, regular dental clinic visit, dietary control and education/interest(p<0.05, p<0.001).

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.15 no.18
• /
• pp.7679-7686
• /
• 2014

Background: This study aimed to seek insights into Chinese women's lay beliefs about cervical cancer causal attributions and prevention. Materials and Methods: Twenty-three new immigrant adult women from Mainland China and thirty-five Hong Kong adult women underwent semi-structured in-depth interviews. Interviews were audio taped, transcribed and analyzed using a Grounded Theory approach. Results: This study generated three foci: causal beliefs about cervical cancer, perceived risk of cervical cancer, and beliefs about cervical cancer prevention. Personal risky practices, contaminated food and environment pollution were perceived as the primary causes of cervical cancer. New immigrant women more likely attributed cervical cancer to external factors. Most participants perceived cervical cancer as an important common fatal female cancer with increased risk/prevalence. Many participants, particularly new immigrant women participants, expressed helplessness about cervical cancer prevention due to lack of knowledge of prevention, it being perceived as beyond individual control. Many new immigrant participants had never undergone regular cervical screening while almost all Hong Kong participants had done so. Conclusions: Some Chinese women hold pessimistic beliefs about cervical cancer prevention with inadequate knowledge about risk factors. Future cervical cancer prevention programs should provide more information and include capacity building to increase Chinese women's knowledge and self-efficacy towards cervical cancer prevention.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.145-152
• /
• 2015

Barriers to health seeking constitute a challenging issue in the treatment of breast cancer. The current meta-synthesis aimed to explore common barriers to health seeking among Malaysian breast cancer patients. From the systematic search, nine studies were found meeting the inclusion criteria. Data extraction revealed that health behavior towards breast cancer among Malaysia women was influenced by knowledge, psychological, sociocultural and medical system factors. In terms of knowledge, most of the Malaysian patients were observed to have cursory information and the reliance on the information provided by media was limiting. Among psychological factors, stress and sense of denial were some of the common factors leading to delay in treatment seeking. Family member's advice, cultural beliefs towards traditional care were some of the common sociocultural factors hindering immediate access to advanced medical diagnosis and care. Lastly, the delay in referral was one of the most common health system-related problems highlighted in most of the studies. In conclusion, there is an immediate need to improve the knowledge and understanding of Malaysian women towards breast cancer. Mass media should liaise with the cancer specialists to disseminate accurate and up-to-date information for the readers and audience, helping in modification of cultural beliefs that hinder timing health seeking. However, such intervention will not improve or rectify the health system related barriers to treatment seeking. Therefore, there is an immediate need for resource adjustment and training programs among health professional to improve their competency and professionalism required to develop an efficient health system.