This paper focused on analysing the three very famous ethnographic works on Pukhtun Society of Swat. First, the work of Fredrik Barth “Political Leadership among Swath Pathans, was analysed then analysis of counter work to Barth’s done by Akbar S. Ahmed, “Millennium and Charisma among Pathans”, then there was critical review of the work by Charles Lindholm “Frontier Perspectives: Essays on Comaritive Anthropology”. Works of Louis Dupree, Talal Asad and Micheal Meeker, have also consulted to critically analyse the (...) works of the mentioned authors. This paper is an effort to examine the fact that the works of Fredrik Barth, Akber S. Ahmed, and Charles Lindholm present partially true picture about the socio-economic settings of Swat Pashtuns but not a fully appropriate, impartial and correct image of that society. If one would fully depend on these works to understand the economic and political circumstances of Swat society, then it would be probably insufficient and misleading owing to a significant difference in the writings of all these writers though written from the same society. It means that all of them were writing from the different positions, from separate cultural, educational and professional backgrounds. Their backgrounds have great influence on their writing, which made their work subjective and biased. Thus, it assumes that though an anthropologist tries to remain impartial and objective while writing about any culture, he cannot be, because of his cultural restriction. So, there is an effort to give an answer to the research question by applying the idea of post-modernist approach of James Clifford “writing culture”, also getting support by the Michel Foucault ideas of “Knowledge/Power” in discourse analysis. Thus, it is supposed here that work of each above mentioned authors is a partial truth, because in an ethnographic work author plays a central role and he writes ethnography as an auto-biography (based on his/her cultural limitation). (shrink)

Tuberculosis is caused by bacillus Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In this study, a mathematical model of tuberculosis is analyzed. The numerical behaviour of the considered model is analyzed including basic reproduction number and stability. We applied three numerical techniques to this model, i.e., nonstandard finite difference scheme, Runge–Kutta method of order 4, and forward Euler scheme. NSFD scheme preserves all the essential properties of the model. Acquired results corroborate that NSFD scheme converges for each step size. While the other two schemes failed (...) to preserve some properties of the model such as positivity and convergence. A graphical comparison presented in this study confirms the numerical stability of the NSFD technique shown here is maintained over a large area. (shrink)

Despite the potential value of graduate-level research ethics training, most Middle East countries, including Jordan, do not routinely offer formal research ethics training. In students enrolled in Jordanian master’s level graduate program in pharmacy, the current study assessed: 1- differences in pre- and post-enrollment exposure to research ethics core themes, 2- whether this exposure was through a formal course or in an informal setting, and 3- student attitudes towards research ethics education and the need for integrating a dedicated research ethics (...) course into pharmacy graduate programs. A 12-item on-line survey was developed by the authors and disseminated to a convenience sample of current and former master-level pharmacy students in Jordan. A total of 61 eligible respondents completed the survey. A minority of respondents (38%) acknowledged receiving research ethics training prior to enrollment into a postgraduate pharmacy program with nearly half (16%) describing this training as informal. In comparison, a larger percentage of the total respondents (56%) had received research ethics training during their postgraduate program enrollment, with nearly half of those (25%) indicating that this training was informal. A majority of respondents reported a strong need for integrating a formal research ethics course into postgraduate pharmacy curriculum (90%) to support their research training and thesis writing (89%). Overall, the study revealed a notable lack of research ethics education for graduate-level pharmacy students in Jordan. (shrink)

Abstract: Background: In spite of the fact that computers continue to improve in speed and functions operation, they remain complex to use. Problems frequently happen, and it is hard to resolve or find solutions for them. This paper outlines the significance and feasibility of building a desktop PC problems diagnosis system. The system gathers problem symptoms from users’ desktops, rather than the user describes his/her problems to primary search engines. It automatically searches global databases of problem symptoms and solutions, and (...) also allows ordinary users to contribute exact problem reports in a structured manner. Objectives: The main goal of this Knowledge Based System is to get the suitable problem desktop PC symptoms and the correct way to solve the errors. Methods: In this paper the design of the proposed Knowledge Based System which was produced to help users of desktop PC in knowing many of the problems and error such as : Power supply problems, CPU errors, RAM dumping error, hard disk errors and bad sectors and suddenly restarting PC. The proposed Knowledge Based System presents an overview about desktop PC hardware errors are given, the cause of fault are outlined and the solution to the problems whenever possible is given out. CLIPS Knowledge Based System language was used for designing and implementing the proposed expert system. Results: The proposed PC desktop troubleshooting Knowledge Based System was evaluated by IT students and they were satisfied with its performance. (shrink)

Buildings energy consumption is growing gradually and put away around 40% of total energy use. Predicting heating and cooling loads of a building in the initial phase of the design to find out optimal solutions amongst different designs is very important, as ell as in the operating phase after the building has been finished for efficient energy. In this study, an artificial neural network model was designed and developed for predicting heating and cooling loads of a building based on a (...) dataset for building energy performance. The main factors for input variables are: relative compactness, roof area, overall height, surface area, glazing are a, wall area, glazing area distribution of a building, orientation, and the output variables: heating and cooling loads of the building. The dataset used for training are the data published in the literature for various 768 residential buildings. The model was trained and validated, most important factors affecting heating load and cooling load are identified, and the accuracy for the validation was 99.60%. (shrink)

Our objective is to examine the effects of Big Five personality traits on ethical ideologies using a time-lagged design of 406 employees of higher education institutions in Pakistan. Based on low/high idealism versus relativism, we investigate the conceptual linkage between each of the personality traits and moral philosophy. The results illustrate that extraversion and openness to experience believed on subjectivism moral philosophy, agreeableness believed on situationism, and neuroticism believed on absolutism moral philosophies. In addition, contentiousness believed on exceptionism moral philosophy. (...) Furthermore, managerial implications and future research directions are suggested. (shrink)

The study aimed at measuring the dominant pattern of leadership and its relation to the performance of the administrative staff in the Palestinian universities. The study community consists of all the administrative staff from Al-Azhar University and the Islamic University, and through the census of the study society it was found to consist of (655) administrative staff. In order to achieve the objectives of the study, the researchers used the method of random sample in the study, and the study was (...) conducted on a sample of (221) administrative staff of the surveyed universities and the response rate was (82.35%). The study found that there is a high degree of satisfaction with the Dominant Pattern of Leadership in the Palestinian universities in Gaza Strip from the point of view of the administrative staff, which reached (71.67%). There is a high level of performance from the point of view of administrative staff, with a percentage of (82.53%). There is a direct correlation between the dominant pattern of leadership and the functional Performance of Administrative Staff, the absence of differences between the sample according to the gender variable in their perception of the dominant pattern of leadership and the functional Performance of Administrative Staff, the absence of differences in the perception of employees of the dominant pattern of leadership and the functional Performance of Administrative Staff depending on the age variable. There are differences of statistical significance according to the variable of scientific qualification in the Dominant Pattern of Leadership, while there were no differences in performance, the differences in the dominant pattern of leadership according to the scientific qualification were in favor of those who obtained the diploma degree compared to other practical qualifications, the absence of differences in the perception of employees of the dominant pattern of leadership and the functional Performance of Administrative Staff depending on the variable years of service, the absence of differences in the perception of employees of the dominant pattern of leadership and the functional Performance of Administrative Staff depending on the variable level of career (Director, Head of Department, and Administrative Officer). There were differences in the perception of workers to the dominant pattern of leadership depending on the variable of the workplace, where there were differences in favor of workers in deanships and colleges compared with the workers in the technical departments. While there were no differences in job performance according to the workplace variable, the existence of differences in the perception of workers to the dominant pattern of leadership depending on the university in which they work in favor of the Islamic University and the absence of differences in performance between the Islamic University and Al-Azhar University. The study reached a number of recommendations, the most important of which is that the interest of the managements of the Palestinian universities in improving the dominant pattern of leadership, to give universities the opportunity to participate in decision-making, the continued administration of universities interest and continuous improvement of the performance of its employees, enhance the periodic evaluation of job performance and to inform employees and express their opinion, solving workers' problems and giving them the opportunity to contribute to solving their own problems, the use of the staff rotation method periodically and strengthening the democratic the dominant pattern of leadership and empowering university staff. -/- . (shrink)

Biobanking is a relatively new concept in Egypt. Building a good relationship with different stakeholders is essential for the social sustainability of biobanks. To establish this relationship, it is necessary to assess the attitude of different groups towards this concept. The objective of this work is to assess the knowledge, attitude, and opinions of Egyptian patients towards biobanking issues. We designed a structured survey to be administered to patients coming to the outpatient clinics in 3 university hospitals in Egypt. The (...) survey included questions estimating the level of knowledge about the term “Biobank”, together with questions about the attitudes and opinions about related issues. Two hundred and fifty-nine patients participated in the survey. Eighty-one percent of participants reported that they never heard about the term before. About 85% expressed that they would be willing to donate their samples for research and about 87% thought that sample donation did not contradict their religious beliefs. Fifty eight percent were willing to participate in a genetic research project, 27.8% supported sharing their sample with pharmaceutical companies, and 32.4% agreed to share their samples with institutions abroad. Although there is limited knowledge about biobanking among Egyptian patients, many had a positive attitude towards sample donation and didn’t show religious concerns against it. However, they showed concerns regarding participation in genetic research and with sharing their samples across borders or with pharmaceutical companies. Public education about biobanking is possible, taking into consideration the specific cultural and legal framework in Egypt. (shrink)

The study aimed to know the relationship between the nature of the work and the type of communication among the Employees in the Palestinian universities. A comparative study between Al-Azhar University and Al-Aqsa University. The researchers used the analytical descriptive method through a questionnaire that is randomly distributed among the employees of Al-Azhar and Al-Aqsa universities in Gaza Strip. The study was conducted on a sample of (176) administrative employees from the surveyed universities. The response rate was (85.79%). The study (...) reached a number of results, the most important of which is that there is a high degree of satisfaction with the nature of work prevailing in the Palestinian universities in Gaza Strip from the point of view of the administrative staff, where the percentage was (68.15%). There is an Mean level of communication from the point of view of administrative staff, with a percentage of (67.50%). There is a direct correlation between the nature of the work and the prevailing pattern of communication. There is an absence of differences between the sample according to the gender variable in their perception of the nature of work and the prevailing pattern of communication. There is an absence of differences in the perception of Employees nature of work and the pattern of communication prevailing depending on the variables (age, years of service, job level, and university). There are statistically significant differences between Al-Azhar University and Al-Aqsa University in favor of Al-Azhar University. The study reached a number of recommendations, the most important of which is that the interest of the management of the Palestinian universities in Gaza Strip in general, and Al-Aqsa and Al-Azhar Universities in particular should be provided with a good nature of work and communication. There is a need for continuing the management of universities to pay attention and continuous improvement of the performance of employees. There is an importance of solving the problems of Employees and giving them the opportunity to contribute to solving their own problems. Staff rotation should be used periodically and the need to strengthen the democratic leadership style and empower university Employees. (shrink)

In this paper an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model was used to help cars dealers recognize the many characteristics of cars, including manufacturers, their location and classification of cars according to several categories including: Buying, Maint, Doors, Persons, Lug_boot, Safety, and Overall. ANN was used in forecasting car acceptability. The results showed that ANN model was able to predict the car acceptability with 99.12 %. The factor of Safety has the most influence on car acceptability evaluation. Comparative study method is (...) suitable for the evaluation of car acceptability forecasting, can also be extended to all other areas. (shrink)

For a long time, researchers in the fields of psychology and neuroscience have been interested in discovering ways to boost productivity in traditionally "healthy," "clinical," and "military" populations. However, one of the biggest challenges in reaching this objective is developing personalised performance phenotypes that can be used to build interventions that are specifically catered to each individual's needs. Impact: Thanks to AI's recent advancements, we can now create individualised training, preparation, and recovery plans that are tailored to each person's unique (...) cognitive and biological profile. Concurrent AI advancements, especially in the psychological and neurological sciences, have demonstrated the importance of incorporating domain expertise and stakeholder inputs into the development of trustworthy AI. Value: This Patterns themed issue seeks original empirical work, literature reviews, and methodological papers that establish and validate precision artificial intelligence methods for human performance optimization, with a focus on modelling individual differences via state-of-the-art computational methods. (shrink)

The overall policy and strategies of an organization i.e. employeepolicy or employee development strategies, resource management as well asmonitoring and control strategies characteristically have an effect on the qualitymanagement of the organization. These policies usually also have impact onthe stakeholders i.e. satisfaction of the wider community and employees ofthe particular organization. The aim of this paper is to examine the policyand strategies of the Chittagong City Corporation for quality improvementand how these policy and strategies impact on the needs of its (...) stakeholders.This paper is guided by the EFQM model as the theoretical underpinning thatprovides specific enabler criteria of quality management of organizations suchas employee policy, development of partnerships and resource management,and the monitoring of strategies. These enabler criteria help to explain the waysin which total quality management is implemented in any organization.Data for this study was collected from a total of 142 participants, includingselective officials of the Chittagong City Corporation, city dwellers,government officials and civil society representatives by using a structuredquestionnaire. The findings of this study reveal that the CCC has failed toconvey clearly its quality mission and objectives to its employees at all levels. (shrink)

Today’s education system needs to be global. ‘World Class Education’ involves a globally accepted high standard of education. Every country needs an increasing number of highly educated people and skilled professionals in order to integrate into the globalization process. These professionals include scholars, philosophers and leaders with vision. Leaders are our human capital. The state must provide opportunities for higher education to create human capital that meets global standards. The overall development of a society is largely determined by the quality (...) of its education, especially higher education. A well-educated, well-trained population could propel a nation towards rapid economic growth. Despite lack of natural resources, countries such as Japan, Korea and Singapore have made rapid economic progress. This was because they invested heavily in education and training. On the other hand, countries such as Nigeria or Congo, despite enormous natural resources, are poor and backward because of large-scale illiteracy and lack of skilled workforce. The aim of education is to create well-trained, competent and progressive individuals who can perform all kinds of tasks and take on a lot of responsibilities. Higher education is the stage of education that takes place at the post-secondary level, and is provided mostly and most meaningfully by universities. A university introduces its students to discussions and debates that prevail in various disciplines and fields of knowledge. The objective of a university is not only to create and disseminate knowledge but also to develop human resources that will accelerate the socio-economic development of the nation. This is possible only when the employees working in these universities are motivated and empowered. To achieve this objective, universities must restructure and redesign their HRD practices and processes. In this background, the present article analyzes the existing HRD practices and processes in 10 leading universities in India and how should these universities go about transforming their HR systems and mechanisms to meet the rapidly changing environmental demands. The research approach and methodology adopted to carry out this study includes collection of primary and secondary data. Primary data has been collected by administering a well-structured and well-designed questionnaire on HRD climate survey developed by XLRI Jamshedpur. The questionnaire had been administered to 1,000 respondents selected from the 10 leading universities of India. Data from both the sources were analyzed statistically by applying various statistical tools and techniques to find the conclusions, based on which the guidelines, recommendations and policy implications were made for the improvement of HRD practices in the universities. (shrink)

The main aim of this paper is to assess the level of knowledge, attitude and practice of university teachers regarding plagiarism in Bangladesh. An online questionnaire consisted of 20 knowledge questions, 23 attitude items, and 18 practice questions was created using Google Forms. The link to the questionnaire was sent via email to university teachers. The total correct answers for knowledge and practice questions, and the total attitude score were converted to percentile scores and categorized accordingly as poor ( mean (...) + 1 SD). Bivariate analyses were conducted to compare the total knowledge, attitude and practice scores based on demographic and academic variables. Multiple linear regressions were used to identify the association between knowledge, attitude and practice scores, and other covariates. The findings revealed an average level of knowledge, attitude and practice regarding plagiarism among the majority of university teachers. The knowledge, attitude and practice scores were significantly higher for teachers who attended academic writing workshops compared to those who did not attend such events. Demographic and academic variables did not impact knowledge and attitude scores. However, the number of papers published in the last two years and their indexing in Web of Science (WoS) or Scopus significantly impacted attitude and knowledge scores. The multiple regression analyses showed that the practice score was significantly associated with age, highest education, and knowledge. (shrink)

A collection of personal narratives and essays, Living Professionalism is designed to help medical students and residents understand and internalize various aspects of professionalism. These essays are meant for personal reflection and above all, for thoughtful discussion with mentors, with peers, with others throughout the health care provider community who care about acting professionally.

In this paper an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model was used to help cars dealers recognize the many characteristics of cars, including manufacturers, their location and classification of cars according to several categories including: Make, Model, Type, Origin, DriveTrain, MSRP, Invoice, EngineSize, Cylinders, Horsepower, MPG_Highway, Weight, Wheelbase, Length. ANN was used in prediction of the number of miles per gallon when the car is driven in the city(MPG_City). The results showed that ANN model was able to predict MPG_City with 97.50 (...) % accuracy. The factor of DriveTrain has the most influence on MPG_City evaluation. Similar studies can be carried out for the evaluation of other characteristics of cars. (shrink)

The mainstream literature on corporate governance is based on the premise of conflicts of interest in a competitive game played by variously defined stakeholders and thus builds explicitly and/or implicitly on masculinist ethical theories. This article argues that insights from feminist ethics, and in particular ethics of care, can provide a different, yet relevant, lens through which to study corporate governance. Based on feminist ethical theories, the article conceptualises a governance model that is different from the current normative orthodoxy.

Organizations are increasingly finding it challenging to balance economic and environmental performance particularly those that face competitive, regulatory and community pressure. With the increasing pressures for environmental sustainability, this calls for the new formulation of strategies by the manufacturers in order to minimize their products and services negative impact on the environment. Hence, Green Human Resource Management (GHRM) continues to be an important research agenda among the researchers. In Palestine, green issues are new and still developing. Constant study is needed (...) to fully understand and update information regarding this area. Objective: The aim of this paper is to explore the views and level of acceptance of GHRM practices among manufacturing firms in Palestine. Results: Through the use of e-mail survey, 121 responses were obtained to generate the results of the study. The result showed GHRM practices have been practiced to somewhat to a greater extent a firms in Palestine. Findings can be extended to study on the issues in further. Academicians and practitioners can apply this result to their research and business strategies on how to improve sustainable performance and to effectively implement GHRM practices. (shrink)

jild-i 1. Az ʻAbd al-Ḥamīd Kātib (59 Sh.) tā Abū al-Ḥasan Masʻūdī (336 Sh.) -- jild-i 2. Az Abū al-Ḥasan ʻĀmirī (291 Sh.) tā Abū al-Faz̤l Bayhaqī (465 Sh.) -- jild-i 3. Az Nāṣir Khusraw (383 Sh.) tā Sadīd al-Dīn ʻAwfī (616 Sh.) -- jild-i 4. Az Najm al-Dīn Rāzī (553 Sh.) tā Fakhr al-Muḥaqqiqīn (748 Sh.) -- jild-i 5. Az ʻUbayd Zākānī (670 Sh.) tā Jalāl al-Dīn Sayūṭī (884 Sh.) -- jild-i 6. Az Rūzbihān Khunjī (825 Sh.) tā Shaykh (...) Ḥurr ʻĀmilī (1071 Sh.) -- jild-i 7. Az ʻAlāmah Majlisī (1006 Sh.) tā Muḥammad Bāqir Shafaq (1223 Sh.) -- jild-i 8. Az Muḥammad Ṣādiq Marvazī (1147 Sh.) tā Mīrzā Fatḥʻalī Ākhūndzādah (1289 Sh.) -- jild-i 9. Az Mīrzā-yi Shīrāzī Avval (1194 Sh.) tā Ākhūnd Khurāsānī (1290 Sh.) -- jild-i 10. Az ʻAbd Allāh Māzandarānī (1219 Sh.) tā Saʻd Zaghlūl (1306 Sh.) -- jild-i 11. Az ʻImād al-ʻUlamāʼ Khalkhālī (1237 Sh.) tā ʻAbd al-ʻAzīz S̲aʻālibī (1323 Sh.) -- jild-i 12. Az Āyat Allāh Burūjirdī (1254 Sh.) tā Muḥammad Amīn Rasūlʹzādah (1333 Sh.) -- jild-i 13. Az ʻAbd al-Karīm Zanjānī (1263 Sh.) tā Amīn al-Ḥusaynī (1353 Sh.) -- jild-i 14. Az Jamālzādah (1274 Sh.) tā Mahdī Bāzargān (1373) -- jild-i 15. Az Muḥammad Ḥamīd Allāh (1286 Sh.) tā Muṭahharī (1358 Sh.) -- jild-i 16. Az Farīdūn Ādamīyat (1299 Sh.) tā Muṣṭafá Khumaynī (1356 Sh.) -- jild-i 17. Az Samīr Amīn (1310 Sh.) tā Ḥasan Ḥanafī -- jild-i 18. Az Sayyid Muḥammad Bāqir Ṣadr (1314 Sh.) tā Rāshid al-Ghanūshī -- jild-i 19. Az ʻAlī Awmlīl (1321 Sh.) tā Ṭāriq Ramaz̤ān. (shrink)

Aim To explore the views in non-Western cultures about ending the lives of damaged newborns.Method 254 university students from India and 150 from Kuwait rated the acceptability of ending the lives of newborns with genetic defects in 54 vignettes consisting of all combinations of four factors: gestational age ; severity of genetic defect ; the parents’ attitude about prolonging care ; and the procedure used .Results Four clusters were identified by cluster analysis and subjected to analysis of variance. Cluster I, (...) labelled ‘Never Acceptable’, included 4% of the Indians and 59% of the Kuwaitis. Cluster II, ‘No Firm Opinion’, had little variation in rating from one scenario to the next; it included 38% of the Indians and 18% of the Kuwaitis. In Cluster III, ‘Parents’ Attitude+Severity+Procedure’, all three factors affected the ratings; it was composed of 18% of the Indians and 16% of the Kuwaitis. Cluster IV was called ‘Severity+Parents’ Attitude’ because these had the strongest impact; it was composed of 40% of the Indians and 7% of the Kuwaitis.Conclusions In accordance with the teachings of Islam versus Hinduism, Kuwaiti students were more likely to oppose ending a newborn's life under all conditions, Indian students more likely to favour it and to judge its acceptability in light of the different circumstances. (shrink)

ABSTRACTAdopting a temporally distant perspective on stressors reduces distress in adults. Here we investigate whether the extent to which individuals project themselves into the future influences distancing efficacy. We also examined modulating effects of age across adolescence and reactive aggression: factors associated with reduced future-thinking and poor emotion regulation. Participants read scenarios and rated negative affect when adopting a distant-future perspective, near-future perspective, or when reacting naturally. Self-report data revealed significant downregulation of negative affect during the distant-future condition, with a (...) similar though non-significant skin conductance pattern. Importantly, participants who projected further ahead showed the greatest distress reductions. While temporal distancing efficacy did not vary with age, participants reporting greater reactive aggression showed reduced distancing efficacy, and projected themselves less far into the future. Fi... (shrink)

ABSTRACTEvidence is currently mixed regarding the way in which cognitive conflict modulates the effect of emotion on task performance. The present study aimed to address methodological differences...

Trust is a key component in delivering quality and respectful care within health care systems. However, a growing lack of confidence in health care, particularly among specific subgroups of the population in the United States, could further widen health disparities. In this essay, we explore one approach to building trust and reaching diverse communities to promote health: engaging community‐based organizations (CBOs) as trusted community messengers. We present case studies of partnerships in health promotion, community education, and outreach that showcase how (...) CBOs’ programs build and leverage trust in health care systems through their workforce, services, and engagement with the community. (shrink)

Bouts of exercise performed either prior to or immediately following study periods enhance encoding and learning. Empirical evidence supporting the benefits of interventions that simultaneously pair physical activity with material to be learned is not conclusive, however. A narrative, theory-based review of dual-task experiments evaluated studies in terms of arousal theories, attention theories, cognitive-energetic theories, and entrainment theories. The pattern of the results of these studies suggests that cognitive-motor interference can either impair or enhance memory of semantic information and the (...) manner in which physical activity impacts working memory within executive processing appears to explain disparate outcomes. The integration and timing of physical movements in concert with the type of information to be encoded and remembered appears to be a critical requirement for learning. These observations have implications for the role of physical activity in education, rehabilitation, and gerontological settings. (shrink)

Sustained attention, a key cognitive skill that improves during childhood and adolescence, tends to be worse in some emotional and behavioural disorders. Sustained attention is typically studied in non-affective task contexts; here, we used a novel task to index performance in affective versus neutral contexts across adolescence (N = 465; ages 11–18). We asked whether: (i) performance would be worse in negative versus neutral task contexts; (ii) performance would improve with age; (iii) affective interference would be greater in younger adolescents; (...) (iv) adolescents at risk for depression and higher in anxiety would show overall worse performance; and (v) would show differential performance in negative contexts. Results indicated that participants performed more poorly in negative contexts and showed age-related performance improvements. Those at risk of depression performed more poorly than those at lower risk. However, there was no difference between groups as a result of affective context. For anxiety there was no difference in performance as a function of severity. However, those with higher anxiety showed less variance in their reaction times to negative stimuli than those with lower anxiety. One interpretation is that moderate levels of emotional arousal associated with anxiety make individuals less susceptible to the distracting effects of negative stimuli. (shrink)

We revisit the flight-to-quality and flight-from-quality occurrences vis-à-vis the stock-bond nexus across differing investment time scales in the COVID-19 era, using a novel technique hinged on a denoised frequency-domain transfer entropy. Our findings divulge that flights, both FTQ and FFQ, could be attained during stress periods. Generally, in the intermediate term of the COVID-19 pandemic, both Islamic and conventional bonds could act as safe havens, diversifiers, and hedges for international equities, and the same could be observed for international equities. We (...) reiterate empirically that flights may improve the financial system’s stability and robustness by allowing diversity to be effective when it is most required. The findings have financial and portfolio implications for investors considering how to deploy their investments in the COVID-19 era. Our findings may impact policymakers’ responses to changes in various asset classes, allowing them to better monitor financial markets and adjust macroeconomic policies. (shrink)

The objective is to introduce and describe a new philosophy for global science edification that will determine the extent and nature of humans’ accomplishments. These will affect life quality worldwide. Science as an ultimate essence encircles theoretical and applied findings and discoveries. These can only contribute to forming a trivial core, whilst the most crucial are insightful moral surroundings. Morality is most concerned with mentorship commitments. To sustain a dense and rigid shape that progressively improves science and life quality, imagination (...) must be complemented with harmonizing approaches. Such perceptions become an obligation as growing knowledge creates novel questions and challenges. The upper tree of science glorified with blooming branches of knowledge, particularly over the last few centuries, is predicted to undergo progressive declines in the strength of its edification foundations unless the lower tree receives most-deserving mentorship contemplations. The upper tree describes tangible science products in routin life, and the lower tree represents sustainable mentorship. Mentors must replace teachers, by definition, and commit to generating more qualified educators than themselves. Mentors are expected to welcome and manage challenges from mentees. Challenges play crucial roles in granting mentees with integrated pathways of scientific development. The resulting pictures will be eagerly prone to revisions and elaborations as mentees themselves step into the pathway. This systematic edification will strengthen science roots in mentees’ minds and will uphold a sturdy science body for society. Science pictured as an integrated circle grants a prospect to envision where humans are and where not to end up. Maintaining a definitive shape for science in any major before and while enriching central cores with experimental novelties in minds and laboratories is crucial to improving man’s fulfillment of time in the third millennium. Such integrities are an obligation to optimally preserve and utilize what humans have achieved thus far and continue to accomplish. (shrink)

We give a new characterization of the class of completely representable cylindric algebras of dimension 2 #lt; n ≤ w via special neat embeddings. We prove an independence result connecting cylindric algebra to Martin's axiom. Finally we apply our results to finite-variable first order logic showing that Henkin and Orey's omitting types theorem fails for Ln, the first order logic restricted to the first n variables when 2 #lt; n#lt;w. Ln has been recently (and quite extensively) studied as a many-dimensional (...) modal logic. (shrink)

This study investigates the association of a broad set of variables with the ethical decision making of management accountants in Libya. Adopting a cross-sectional methodology, a questionnaire including four different ethical scenarios was used to gather data from 229 participants. For each scenario, ethical decision making was examined in terms of the recognition, judgment and intention stages of Rest’s model. A significant relationship was found between ethical recognition and ethical judgment and also between ethical judgment and ethical intention, but ethical (...) recognition did not significantly predict ethical intention—thus providing support for Rest’s model. Organizational variables, age and educational level yielded few significant results. The lack of significance for codes of ethics might reflect their relative lack of development in Libya, in which case Libyan companies should pay attention to their content and how they are supported, especially in the light of the under-development of the accounting profession in Libya. Few significant results were also found for gender, but where they were found, males showed more ethical characteristics than females. This unusual result reinforces the dangers of gender stereotyping in business. Personal moral philosophy and moral intensity dimensions were generally found to be significant predictors of the three stages of ethical decision making studied. One implication of this is to give more attention to ethics in accounting education, making the connections between accounting practice and Islam. Overall, this study not only adds to the available empirical evidence on factors affecting ethical decision making, notably examining three stages of Rest’s model, but also offers rare insights into the ethical views of practising management accountants and provides a benchmark for future studies of ethical decision making in Muslim majority countries and other parts of the developing world. (shrink)

The market relationships are being contested. This can be seen in the increasing number of alternative social experiments in the ‘North’ and the ‘South’ which propose to think out the present market relationships in a different way, in particular in establishing exchange value and in facilitating access to trade. These practical alternatives are supported by trends in academic circles that over the past three decades have opposed neoliberal capitalism and individualism in today's commercialised society. Calling for greater solidarity and social (...) justice in economic relationships, in particular, partisans of social and solidarity economics, identifying with these trends, demand new forms of exchange. The objective of this article is to re-examine these demands. What exactly do the SSE mean by ‘solidarity’ and ‘solidarity-based economy'? We would like to trace the contours of this theoretical and political project and to assess the practicability of the proposed alternative to neoliberal capitalism. (shrink)

BackgroundA different ethos with respect to the perception of medical ethics prevails in societies in transition such as those in the Arabian Peninsula, which makes it difficult to apply international principles of bioethics in medical practice. This study aimed to develop and psychometrically test an instrument that measures physicians’ awareness of bioethics and medical law and their attitudes towards the practice of medical ethics. Additionally, it examined physician correlates influencing the awareness of bioethics.MethodsFollowing a rigorous review of relevant literature by (...) a panel of experts, a 13-item instrument, the Omani physicians’ bioethics and medical law awareness (OBMLA) questionnaire was developed with the aim of assessing physicians’ awareness of bioethics and medical law. The study tool’s construct validity and internal consistency reliability were examined by exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and Cronbach’s alpha. In a cross-sectional study, the questionnaire was distributed among a random sample of 200 physicians at a tertiary hospital in Muscat, Oman. Participant characteristics that may influence awareness of bioethics and medical law were explored.ResultsThe EFA of the OBMLA questionnaire resulted in three well-loading factors: (1) Physicians’ bioethics practice subscale (2) incentive related bioethics subscale and (3) medical law awareness subscale. Internal consistency reliability ranged between Cronbach’s α: 0.73–0.8. Of the total 200 participants, 52% reported that teaching medical ethics during medical school was inadequate. The overall mean (standard deviation, SD) of the bioethics awareness score and Omani medical law awareness were 27.6 (3.5) and 10.1 (2.1) respectively. The majority of physicians (73%) reported that they frequently encountered ethical dilemmas in their practice and 24.5% endorsed the view that unethical decisions tended to occur in their practice.ConclusionThe study provides an insight into the practice of bioethics, and the awareness of bioethics and medical law among physicians in a teaching hospital in Oman. The OBMLA questionnaire appears to be a valid and reliable tool to assess a physician’s awareness of bioethics and medical law. In this preliminary study, it appears that participants have suboptimal scores on the indices which measure practice and awareness of bioethics and medical law. (shrink)