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Reimagining Decolonization in East Asia: The Mingeikan and Memories of Japan’s Colonization of Korea
Full text linkAfter discovering beauty in the “folk crafts” (mingei) of Korea, Yanagi Sōetsu (1889–1961), an art critic, philosopher, and founder of the Mingei Movement, established the Japan Folk Crafts Museum (Nihon Mingeikan) in 1936. The Mingeikan, with its roots in Japan’s colonization of Korea, plays an uneven role in mediating the postmemory (the memory of those with no direct experience of WWII) of the current generation because the museum does not provide explicit reference to its colonial roots in its exhibitions. Yanagi’s original sentiments in comparison to the museum’s current iteration make for an important case study in understanding how decolonization can occur in Japan. For these reasons it is important to analyze the stakes of unraveling the entangled memories between Japan and Korea within the Mingeikan. While decolonization is an important lens through which to understand contemporary Japan-Korea relations, the specific practices of “decolonization” need to be adapted, revised, and reconsidered when it comes to the legacy of Japan’s imperialism in Korea. This paper takes the Mingeikan as a unique case study to understand how postwar museums in Japan present the history of Japanese colonization in Korea because it does not position itself as a war or peace museum. In order to unravel the historical grief caused by colonialization amidst calls of redress and repatriation, what role do Japanese museums play in erasing or acknowledging Japanese colonial legacies? What current issues make decolonization difficult in Japan? And finally, how does seeing the legacy of Japanese colonialism taking shape in the Mingeikan change our understanding of decolonizing practices
Impact of Physician Group Practice in the Operations, Quality of Care, and Service Satisfaction in the Non-urgent Section of an Emergency Department in a Tertiary Hospital in the Philippines: A Mixed Methods Study
No full textBackground
The Emergency Department (ED) is a primary source of healthcare services for patients with non-urgent conditions in the Philippines. The adaptation of physician group practice (GP) in the ED has gained popularity in the country due to its potential advantage to patient management and physicians compared to independent consultancy (IC). This study aimed to determine the impacts of GP in a non-urgent ED setting in terms of operations, quality of care, and service satisfaction compared to IC.
Methods
Historical data collection focusing on operations, service costs, patient outcomes, and satisfaction was performed between 2021 and 2022 at a tertiary for-profit private hospital in Metro Manila, Philippines. In addition, patient surveys on demographics, perception, ED accessibility, and descriptive satisfaction ratings were also administered in 2023 (n = 310). These aspects were compared between patients managed by GP and IC quantitatively using univariate descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney U tests, and ANCOVA to compare operational metrics, financial data, and patient outcomes. Qualitative data from patient surveys were analyzed using a sequential-explanatory approach.
Results
Our analysis of the historical data showed high rates of positive outcomes for non-urgent ED patients in both GP and IC. Total (PhP587,812 vs. PhP379,699; p \u3c 0.001) and per patient (PhP1,801 vs. PhP554; p \u3c 0.001) operational costs were higher for the GPs. However, GPs incurred shorter mean length of stay (165.5 vs. 214.2 min; p \u3c 0.001). There appears to be no difference in service satisfaction and overall patient outcomes between patients managed by GP or IC, although patients of GP physicians assessed the level of care of the ED to be higher (5 vs. 4; p-value = 0.019). In the quantitative and qualitative ratings, most patients provided positive citations on ED service quality, staff, structure, system, physician competency and compassion.
Conclusions
While GPs were associated with higher operational costs, they improved the ED efficiency and perceived quality of care without compromising patient outcomes. These findings support GP as a viable alternative model for improving ED operations. However, more research is needed to examine its long-term impacts
Impact of Primary Care Benefits on Healthcare Utilisation and Estimated Out-of-pocket Expenses in Urban, Rural and Remote Settings in the Philippines
Full text linkBackground
This study aimed to determine the effects of primary care interventions on healthcare utilisation and estimated out-of-pocket (OOP) expenses in selected urban, rural and remote settings in the Philippines.
Methodology
Context-specific measures relating to expanding healthcare provider networks, augmenting the health human workforce and subsidising transportation costs were implemented to strengthen primary care systems. In this study, two key outcomes were monitored: (1) monthly healthcare utilisation measured by the total number of outpatient consultations per site and (2) change in OOP expenses from baseline to endline within a 1 year study period.
Results
All sites had a positive trend in monthly outpatient consultations in healthcare utilisation over 1 year. The remote site had the steepest increase in outpatient consultations, with a 401% increase compared with the baseline during the peak of consultations at month 7. The urban site had a 62% increase in outpatient consultations from baseline to month 6, while the rural site had a 251% increase from baseline to month 11, which corresponded to the peak month in terms of the number of outpatient consultations. The rural site had the largest decrease in estimated OOP expenses (50.3% reduction, 95% CI -88 to -13), followed by the remote site (33.2% reduction, 95% CI -67,+1) and the urban site (16.0% reduction, 95% CI -65,+33).
Conclusion
The rural site showed a significant reduction in estimated OOP expenses and an increase in healthcare utilisation. The remote site had the steepest increase in utilisation, but the reduction in estimated OOP expenses was not statistically significant. The urban site experienced the lowest increase in utilisation, and the smallest reduction in estimated OOP expenses, which was also not statistically significant. Implementing primary care benefits will necessitate contextualised approaches to avoid the inadvertent aggravation of inequities in healthcare
The Use of Intact Proteins and Purified Amino Acids in Determining the Methionine Requirement in Practical Diets of Pacific White Shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei
No full textAs there is no consensus on the efficacy of purified amino acids in shrimp feed, two approaches were designed to evaluate the methionine requirement in practical diets for Litopenaeus vannamei. The first approach used intact proteins to produce both a deficient and a replete diet. These diets were then co-mixed to create varying levels of methionine using intact proteins. The second approach supplemented a basal diet with pure methionine to create a replete diet and again co-mix the two diets to produce different methionine levels. Hence, three main diets were made, which included a deficient basal diet (B, 0.48 % methionine), a replete diet (M, 0.85 % methionine) that used DL-Met for the first trial, and a dipeptide Met (Met-Met)-supplemented diet for the second trial, and a replete diet (C, 0.84 % methionine), which contained corn protein concentrate to increase the level of methionine. Ten experimental diets were produced by blending the deficient diet with the replete diet which resulted in graded levels of methionine - B100, B70:M30, M100, B90:C10, B80:C20, B70:C30, B60:C40, B40:C60. B20:C80, and C100. Experimental diets were then fed to shrimp (15/aquaria) in 60 randomly assigned aquaria (55.8 L) with a mean initial weight of 0.45 ± 0.002 g over a 54-day growth trial (Trial 1) and 0.23 ± 0.0001 g over a 42-day growth trial (Trial 2). All diets were formulated to be isonitrogenous and isolipidic (36 % protein and 8 % lipid, as is), with the basal diet formulated with fishmeal and lentil meal as the primary protein sources and whole wheat as a carbohydrate source. Significant differences were observed in weight gain as well as shrimp whole body amino acids namely alanine, arginine, glycine, histidine, phenylalanine, proline, and taurine for Trial 1 and cysteine, glycine, threonine, and taurine for Trial 2. The optimal dietary methionine requirement of L. vannamei, estimated by a one-slope broken-line regression analysis model based on weight gain% was 0.67 % of the dry diet (equivalent to 1.85 % of dietary protein on a dry-weight basis) for Trial 1 and at 0.56 % of the dry diet (equivalent to 1.55 % of dietary protein on a dry-weight basis) for Trial 2. For thermal growth unit coefficient the optimal dietary methionine requirement of L. vannamei, estimated by a one-slope broken-line regression analysis model was at 0.66 % of the dry diet (equivalent to 1.82 % of dietary protein on a dry-weight basis) for Trial 1 and at 0.61 % of the dry diet (equivalent to 1.68 % of dietary protein on a dry-weight basis) for Trial 2. Findings from these trials confirm that, in the presence of replete cystine, that a conservative methionine requirement of 0.61 % diet (1.68 % protein) is recommended
Classification of Microcontroller Integrated Circuit on the Pocket of JEDEC Tray Using Convolutional Neural Network in Embedded Machine Learning System
Full text linkOne serious issue in the microcontroller manufacturing environment is the mixing of microcontroller unit (MCU) parts, leading to the wastage of materials, dissatisfied customers, and the implementation of non-value-adding activities to address it. More adverse effects include negative feedback from customers, loss of confidence, and impact on business growth. One root cause traces back to the final testing of the manufacturing back-end process when reusing unemptied standard JEDEC matrix trays for good and bad units in the test handler. Currently, emptying the JEDEC matrix tray and inspecting it is a manual process prone to human error due to high-volume test runs, small package sizes, and package colors matching the tray. The feasible solution is developing a Machine Vision System (MVS) to automate MCU Integrated Circuit (IC) tray inspection and detect empty trays. This study proposes an MVS classifying MCU IC, JEDEC matrix tray pocket, and background using a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) deployed in OpenMV H7 Plus, a low-power, memory-constrained Embedded Machine Learning System (EMLS). The CNN achieves 94.8% training accuracy and 86.67% testing accuracy. Deployed in OpenMV H7 Plus, it classifies 128-pin, 64-pin, and 48-pin TQFP MCU IC packages, tray pockets, and background in real time. Results show an EMLS-based MVS can address MCU IC mixing issues. However, future work should collect more data and explore additional feature extraction and data augmentation techniques to enhance CNN accuracy further
Teaching Group Dynamics Through the Collaborative Chain Exercise
Full text linkTeaching group dynamics as an organizational behavior concept can present a challenge for contextualized understanding when done simply by definition. This article introduces the Collaborative Chain exercise, an innovative group activity designed for classes of 25-30 students that engages participants in learning principles of group dynamics through experiential learning. The 45 to 60-minute exercise emphasizes team cohesion, conflict management, and communication strategies, helping students critically understand group dynamics in an organizational behavior context. Through structured learning and guided reflection, instructors assess students\u27 grasp of the key concepts using a three-tier evaluation framework that measures immediate engagement, reflective understanding, and practical application. This structured exercise also offers an engaging alternative to conventional case studies and business simulations, allowing students to discover key concepts through direct experience while providing clear metrics for learning assessment
Learning, Government Budgets and Wage Growth in the Philippines
No full textThe inability of government policies to improve basic education quality thus hampers the country’s progress towards upper-middle-income status. An empirical model is developed to determine how government education budgets in basic education—reflected by the differences in regional shares in basic education government expenditures—may affect wage returns to basic education. The empirical results indicate that increasing government budget shares in regions with lower schooling levels have failed to increase wage returns of schooling despite generating multiplier effects on aggregate demand. These suggest that the highly centralized programmes for basic education were not aligned with the conditions of the labour market, causing labour mismatches and underemployment for more educated individuals. Policies are provided considering these findings