We examine the relationships among religious governance, especially Islamic governance quality (IGQ), national governance quality (NGQ), and risk management and disclosure practices (RDPs), and consequently ascertain whether NGQ has a moderating influence on the IGQ–RDPs nexus. Using one of the largest data sets relating to Islamic banks from 10 Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries from 2006 to 2013, our findings are threefold. First, we find that RDPs are higher in banks with higher IGQ. Second, we find that RDPs (...) are higher in banks from countries with higher NGQ. Finally, we find that NGQ has a moderating effect on the IGQ–RDPs nexus. Our findings are robust to alternative RDP measures and estimation techniques. These results imply that the quality of disclosure depends on the nature of the macro-social-level factors, such as religion that have remained largely unexplored in business and society research, and, therefore, have important implications for policy makers. (shrink)

Scientific journals ask authors to put their manuscripts, at the submission stage, sometimes in a complex style and a specific pagination format that are time consuming while it is unclear yet that the submitted manuscripts will be accepted. In the case of rejections, authors need to submit to another journal most likely with a different style and formatting that require additional work and time. To save authors’ time, publishers should allow authors to submit their manuscripts in any format and to (...) comply with the style required by the targeted journal only in revised versions, but not at the submission step when the manuscripts are not yet approved for publication. (shrink)

Internet based process control usage has grown in the past years. Industry field demands were behind this, and it ranges from factory, office and home automation to tasks simplifications and cost reduction. In this book a hardware interface circuit and a software system used to control the temperature and level of a liquid tank is described. The advantage of the designed interface circuit is its simplicity and low cost. The same can be true for the software system in which we (...) used C and Java programs to accomplish the communication. Both C and Java can be obtained freely and the development cost could be small. C language has been used to communicate with the designed interface circuit due to its strength in low level operations and communication with ports and hardware. In Java we have used mainly the Servlet for communication between the Client and the Server, which is a new approach and more reliable approach than the CGI based method that has common problems of speed and data persistence. This book is useful for people and researchers working in the field of control, remote access and computer based control. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Der Islam Jahrgang: 94 Heft: 1 Seiten: 57-65.

Journal impact factor is a value calculated annually based on the number of times articles published in a journal are cited in two, or more, of the preceding years. At the time of its inception in 1955 , the inventor of the impact factor did not imagine that 1 day his tool would become a controversial and abusive measure, as he confessed 44 years later . The impact factor became a major detrimental factor of quality, creating huge pressures on authors, (...) editors, stakeholders and funders. More tragically, in some countries the number of publications in journals with “high impact factors” condition the allocation of government funding for entire institutions . Based on the assumption that IF reflects scientific quality, the impact factor produces a widespread impression of prestige and reputation, though no experimental data support this hypothesis .The impact factor was originally conceived as a bibliome .. (shrink)

Reflective capacity is integral to core healthcare professional practice competencies. Reflection plays a central role in teacher education as reflecting on teaching behaviours with critical analysis can potentially improve teaching practice. The humanities including narrative and the visual arts can serve as a valuable tool for fostering reflection. We conducted a multinational faculty development workshop aiming to enhance reflective capacity in medical educators by using a combination of abstract paintings and narratives. Twenty-three family physicians or physicians-in-training from 10 countries participated (...) in the workshop. Qualitative assessment of the workshop showed that the combined use of art and narrative was well received and perceived as contributing to the reflective exercise. Participants generally felt that viewing abstract paintings had facilitated a valuable mood transformation and prepared them emotionally for the reflective writing. Our analysis found that the following themes emerged from participants’ responses: narratives from different countries are similar; the use of art helped access feelings; viewing abstract paintings facilitated next steps; writing reflective narratives promoted examination of educational challenges, compassion for self and other, and building an action plan; and sharing of narrative was helpful for fostering active listening and appreciating multiple perspectives. Future research might include comparing outcomes for a group participating in arts–narrative-based workshops with those of a control group using only reflective narrative or in combination with figurative art, and implementing a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods of assessment. (shrink)

To avoid a clash of civilizations competing traditions must engage in discourse and search for grounds of commonality. Understanding differences and overcoming points of dissonance are essential for peaceful coexistence.

RésuméOn prouve que dans un groupe stable, nilpotent par fini, une équation générìquement satisfaite y est partout satisfaite. En combinant ce résultat avec des résultats de Wagner et Bryant, on déduit qu'un groupe stable résoluble-par-fini d'exposant généríquenest d'exposantn.

High percentages of submitted papers are rejected at editorial levels without offering a second chance to authors by sending their papers for further peer-reviews. In most cases, the rejections are typical quick answers without helpful argumentations related to the content of the rejected material. More surprisingly, some journals vaunt their high rejection rates as a “mark of prestige”!However, journals that reject high percentages of submitted papers have built their prominent positions based on a flawed measure, the impact factor, and from (...) a long and favorable historical context. Their shareholders may think that they are allowed to have a large margin of rejection rates without affecting their sponsorship or funding sources thanks to an extended anchorage since tens, or in some cases hundreds, of years compared to unknown or new journals that struggle to pave a way in the scientific publication world. Historical anchorage of some journals also makes it unfair to compare old and new .. (shrink)

Scientific journals ask authors to put their manuscripts, at the submission stage, sometimes in a complex style and a specific pagination format that are time consuming while it is unclear yet that the submitted manuscripts will be accepted. In the case of rejections, authors need to submit to another journal most likely with a different style and formatting that require additional work and time. To save authors’ time, publishers should allow authors to submit their manuscripts in any format and to (...) comply with the style required by the targeted journal only in revised versions, but not at the submission step when the manuscripts are not yet approved for publication. (shrink)

We prove that in a nilpotent-by-finite stable group an equation that holds generically holds everywhere. Combining this result with results of Wagner and Bryant, we conclude that a soluble-by-finite stable group of generic exponent n has exponent n.

BackgroundBioethics as a field related to the health system and health service delivery has grown in the second half of the 20th century, mainly in North America. This is attributed, the author argues, to mainly three kinds of development that took place in the developed countries at a pace different than the developing countries. They are namely: development of the health system; moral development; and political development.DiscussionThis article discusses the factors that impede the development of the field of bioethics from (...) an academic activity to a living field that is known and practiced by the people in the developing countries. They are quite many; however, the emphasis here is on role of the political structure in the developing countries and how it negatively affects the development of bioethics. It presents an argument that if bioethics is to grow within the system of health service, it should be accompanied by a parallel changes in the political mindsets in these countries.SummaryFor bioethics to flourish in developing countries, it needs an atmosphere of freedom where people can practice free moral reasoning and have full potential to take their life decisions by themselves. Moreover, bioethics could be a tool for political change through the empowerment of people, especially the vulnerable.To achieve that, the article is proposing a practical framework for facilitating the development of the field of bioethics in the developing countries. (shrink)

This study examines the conflict strategies used in the highly adversarial and popular Arabic-language talk show broadcasted weekly on Al-Jazeera satellite channel, known as Al-Ittijah Al-Mu’aakis 'The Opposite Direction'. The study identifies the conflict strategies and verbal conflict expressions and approaches them in the light of Interactional Sociolinguistics. The analysis of three episodes debating three different topics shows that disputants used several types of strategies including "impoliteness", "aggravated impoliteness", topic restriction, lengthy holding of the floor, and sarcasm. The speakers' bald-on-record (...) expressions of disagreement are expected as a result of the controversial and polemical nature of the show, which creates fierce competition between the two guests to present their arguments in an aggressive way. (shrink)

Edition and study of P.Vindob. A.Ch. 36616, a literary paper fragment from 3rd/9th-century Egypt. The fragment contains a tradition that depicts ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib (d. 40/661) performing a four-rakʿa prayer and reciting a special supplication on the 15th of the month of Rajab. The tradition is only known from noncanonical Shīʿī ḥadīth collections. Situating it in a broader historical context, the paper provides a glimpse on the Shīʿī presence in Egypt as well as the sanctity of the month of (...) Rajab in Sunnī and Shīʿī literatures. This tradition, in conclusion, presents an early evidence for the observances of the month of Rajab in general and the middle of the month in particular in the local Shīʿī community in pre-Fatimid Egypt. (shrink)

This paper edits and studies four Arabic legal documents, written on two papyri, now housed in the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University. The documents belong to a certain ʿAmmār b. Salama b. ʿAbd al-Wārith, a merchant from al-Bahnasā. Document 1 (P.CTYBR inv. 1720 verso) records a contract of sale of two inherited portions belonging to a Copt with double names, a Christian and a Muslim one. The contract touches on two significant socio-religious subjects: 1. name change (...) after religious conversion, and 2. the loss of paternal filiation (nasab) of children born outside wedlock or in wedlock but their paternity was disavowed via the Islamic procedure of liʿān “oath of condemnation” or upon evidence of certain circumstances that prove impossibility of paternity. Documents 2.1, 2.2, and 2.3 (P.CTYBR inv. 1715 recto and verso) contains three debt acknowledgements recording payments in coin and in kind. All documents date to the year 297/909–910. (shrink)

The world of synthesizers and synthesists is historically male-dominated. Women in synthesis tend to be obscured by males, and their contribution suffers from erasure. This article considers Suzanne Ciani within the contexts of art, technology, science and culture and her work in composition, performance and media. In particular, her National Endowment for the Arts report of 1976 is a groundbreaking document detailing her composition and performance process using synthesizers. Her composition approach has parallels with techniques drawn from serialism, performed and (...) improvised live using machines. Her performances utilize quadraphonic techniques for spatialized performance as part of the composition and performance. She was the first woman to score a major Hollywood film in 1981. Her work in media and technology highlights a space that women have always worked in but have frequently not been acknowledged as doing so. Ciani’s story reveals tenacity in the face of bias and rejection. It is a tale of someone who always has to claim her credentials, always legitimate her mode of expression, and always counter the assumption that somewhere in her work, there is a man. (shrink)

We show that the conceptual distance between any two theories of first-order logic is the same as the generator distance between their Lindenbaum–Tarski algebras of concepts. As a consequence of this, we show that, for any two arbitrary mathematical structures, the generator distance between their meaning algebras (also known as cylindric set algebras) is the same as the conceptual distance between their first-order logic theories. As applications, we give a complete description for the distances between meaning algebras corresponding to structures (...) having at most three elements and show that this small network represents all the possible conceptual distances between complete theories. As a corollary of this, we will see that there are only two non-trivial structures definable on three-element sets up to conceptual equivalence (i.e., up to elementary plus definitional equivalence). (shrink)

Plants are permanently impacted by their environments, and their abilities to tolerate multiple fluctuating environmental conditions vary as a function of several genetic and natural factors. Over the past decades, scientific innovations and applications of the knowledge derived from biotechnological investigations to agriculture caused a substantial increase of the yields of many crops. However, due to exacerbating effects of climate change and a growing human population, a crisis of malnutrition may arise in the upcoming decades in some places in the (...) world. So, effective, ethical and managerial regulations and fair policies should be set up and applied at the local and global levels so that Earth may fairly provide the food and living accommodation needed by its inhabitants. To save some energy consumption, electric devices should be manufactured to work with solar energy, whenever available, particularly in sunny countries where sun is available most of the time. Such characteristic will save energy and make solar energy-based smartphones and laptops less cumbersome in terms of chargers and plugging issues. (shrink)

In contrast to the conventional fund management industry with a profit-oriented logic based on risk and return, ethical and faith-based funds should follow the religious principles of their investment-style philosophy. Islamic funds should obey the theological teachings of the primary sources of Islam, the Quran and Sunnah, as stakeholders expect these religious teachings to influence the investment decisions of fund managers. In practice, Islamic fund managers use Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions ’s screening criteria, based on secondary (...) sources of Islam, which allow investments that are only partially halal to be included in their portfolios. This study finds that a more religious logic in screening practices, although impairing diversification, does not necessarily harm performance. Thus, Islamic investment funds, and the wider ethical fund management industry, should, and could, adopt stricter screening criteria that match their investment mandates and bring more ethical business practices to the industry. (shrink)

An emergent body of literature examined why some firms apply some environmental initiatives while other firms do not take responsibility for their natural environment? Thus, firm environmental orientation (responsiveness and performance) are linked in the literature to several variables. Unfortunately, the relationship between firm environmental orientation and either available resources or firm size showed mixed results and inconclusive evidence. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to show empirically how available resources and firm size can explain differences in firm environmental (...) responsiveness and environmental performance. Econometric results of environmental responsiveness using the logistic regression model demonstrated that firm size does appear to add something unique in explaining differences in environmental responsiveness while available resource can be safely dropped from the model. However, econometric analysis of environmental performance using the maximum-likelihood random effects model showed strong evidence that available resources and firm size are significant predictors of firm environmental performance. (shrink)

In their recent paper, Esfe et al. present some criteria for fake journals and propose some ‘features’ to recognize them. While I share most of the authors’ concerns about this issue in general, some of the reported criteria are not fit to differentiate fake journals from genuine ones. Here are some examples derived from their list, which illustrate that such criteria are not necessarily specific to fake journals only, but they could also apply to well-established journals and, therefore, should not (...) be considered as is. (shrink)

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the respondents’ evaluation of the pervasiveness of fake news through various SM platforms in Kuwait. The authors also examined the respondents’ attitudes toward most fake news on SM. A total of 1,539 Kuwaitis were selected. Design/methodology/approach The questionnaire was the major tool for this study. The respondents, from whom demographic information was obtained, were asked about which SM platforms most frequently spread fake news, their attitudes toward the subjects most frequently involved (...) in spreading fake news, their degree of use of the six SM platforms and interest in various subjects, and the attitudes toward the negative nature of SM news. SPSS was used for the data analysis. Findings The results showed that WhatsApp was the most likely to be used to disseminate fake news; Twitter and Instagram ranked second. The younger subjects were affected more by text and voice clips than the older ones. Originality/value The study, hopefully, produces new knowledge on the subject of fake news in social media, especially in the Arab world, since there are few studies conducted in the region. The study showed that WhatsApp was the SM tool most likely to be responsible for disseminating fake news in Kuwait, which may shed light on the usage of this application to be a news tool, rather than merely an interpersonal communication medium. (shrink)

This article featuring Sudan constitutes one of five articles in a collection of essays on local capacity-building in research ethics by graduates from the University of Toronto’s Joint Centre for Bioethics MHSc in Bioethics, International Stream programme funded by the Fogarty International Center for Advanced Study in the Health Sciences (FIC). Research ethics is a relatively new area of practice in Sudan. In 2008, the National Health Research Council (NHRC) and health research ethics were clearly stated in the Public Health (...) Act, marking the first legislation rendering research misconduct as a legal offense. It also clearly stated that the NHRC is the focal body of health research in Sudan. Despite the difficulty in following the pace of newly-formed institutions and academies in Sudan, the NHRC’s Research Directorate assisted in the establishment of eight Research Ethics Committees (RECs) in two state ministries of health, two federal hospitals, the Sudan Medical Specialization Board (SMSB), and three universities. (shrink)

The provision of health care service in resource-poor settings is associated with a broad set of ethical issues. Devakumar's case discusses the ethical issues related to the inability to treat in a cholera clinic patients who do not have cholera. This paper gives a closer look on the context in which Devakumar's case took place. It also analyses the potential local and organizational factors that gives rise to ethical dilemmas and aggravate them. It also proposes a framework to help in (...) the proactive handling of the factors that leads to ethical dilemmas and resolving the ethical issues as they appear. It adopts the four principles of autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence and justice as universal and prima facie principles, but with the inclusion of a local understanding of what of each of these principles means. It is based on a collaborative approach that involves the beneficiaries and other partners in the field to help share information and resources, as well as adopting the provision of a wider service to the whole community. This is done by asking three basic questions: (a) who are the relevant stakeholders? (b) what ought to be the ethical principles in place? and (c) how should we take, implement and follow the decision about service provision? (shrink)

The present study delves into the complex interplay between religion and secularism within the framework of contemporary European democracies. It explores how secularism is changing and how it is affecting public life, societal norms, and government. The purpose of the study is to clarify the difficulties and controversies surrounding secularism in Europe by examining the historical context and current dynamics. For measuring, the research used Smart PLS software and generated results, including descriptive statistics, which also present a smart PLS Algorithm (...) model between them. The discussion is on how secularism is interpreted and applied differently in different European nations, emphasizing the conflicts between the principles of religious freedom and governmental neutrality. It describes how secularism affects immigration, globalization, and cultural diversity and how these factors shape European cultures' social fabric. The article also critically assesses the charges made against secularism, such as the devaluation of moral principles and the marginalization of religious minorities. Concerns about the misapplication of secularism for discriminatory and cultural hegemony are also covered, especially in light of Islamophobia and clothing rules based on religion. The study argues for a nuanced view of religion's place in contemporary European democracies through this reevaluation. To promote inclusive forms of government that consider the diverse religious landscape of Europe, it highlights the significance of striking a balance between secular ideals and respect for religious plurality and freedom. (shrink)

The prelims comprise: Introduction Race as Type A New Paradigm The Survival of “Race” Conclusion Notes.

ABSTRACTTwo rival scholars from Shiraz in Persia, Dawānī and Dashtakī engaged in a bitter and extended dispute over a range of metaphysical and logical issues. One of these was the liar paradox. Their debate on this point marked the most extensive scrutiny of the paradox in Arabic until that time. Dashtakī’s solution was to deny that the statement ‘What I say is false’ is true or false, on the ground that there is one statement and one application of the falsity (...) predicate. Given that – ex hypothesi – there is no other statement, there is no basis for a reiteration of the truth or falsity predicate and describing the statement itself as true or false. Dawānī’s solution was to deny that ‘What I say is false’ is a statement at all, and he argued that it is instead akin to a performative utterance such as ‘I hereby sell you this’. (shrink)

The cover letter is not the main text destined to be evaluated or published. The content of the cover letter is already overlapped and redundant with the article's abstract. Cover letters look like the ‘misleading’ commercial ads; as good or as bad as they might be, they do not change the inherent value of the advertised product. The significance of a manuscript should be manifest in the 200–300 words of its abstract and alongside the manuscript as a whole. The aim (...) of cover letter to impress editors, recruiters or hiring managers, would give only a false and ephemeral impression because the veritable, lasting, impression is that ulterior impression related to the innate value of the candidate (or the manuscript), not from a cover letter that ends in the trash. (shrink)

We show that there exists an atomic polyadic equality algebra of dimension n that is elementary equivalent to a completely representable algebra, but its diagonal free reduct is not completely representable.

Through case studies that highlight the type of information that is seldom reported in the news, Faces of Environmental Racism exposes the type and magnitude of environmental racism, both domestic and international. The essays explore the justice of current environmental practices, asking such questions as whether cost-benefit analysis is an appropriate analytic technique and whether there are alternate routes to sustainable development in the South.

Armed conflict in Darfur, west Sudan since 2003 has led to the influx of about 100 international humanitarian UN and non-governmental organizations to help the affected population. Many of their humanitarian i...

The Internet has revolutionized the way knowledge is currently produced, stored and disseminated. A few finger clicks on a keyboard can save time and many hours of search in libraries or shopping in stores. Online trademarks with an prefix such as e-library, e-business, e-health etc., are increasingly part of our daily professional vocabularies. However, the Internet has also produced multiple negative side effects, ranging from an unhealthy dependency to a dehumanization of human relationships. Fraudulent, unethical and scam practices are also (...) flourishing through for example misleading online advertising methods. Some social and professional networks gather users’ profiles for selling and advertising purposes, sometimes by making it technically difficult to unsubscribe. Here, I discuss some of these unethical aspects and propose some potential solutions to reduce them. (shrink)

Through case studies that highlight the type of information that is seldom reported in the news, Faces of Environmental Racism exposes the type and magnitude of environmental racism, both domestic and international. The essays explore the justice of current environmental practices, asking such questions as whether cost-benefit analysis is an appropriate analytic technique and whether there are alternate routes to sustainable development in the South.

This chapter describes a number of medico-administrative and legal changes that were introduced in nineteenth-century Egypt and that gave rise to an individualized conception of identity. Prompted by the recruitment needs of a new conscript army, an administrative apparatus was put in place that gave rise to novel techniques of identifying peasants, monitoring their movements, and controlling their bodies. A wide-ranging public hygiene programme aimed at serving the army resulted in a statistical regime whose crowning achievement was a nation-wide census. (...) Concurrently, legal reforms replaced the reputational and oral witnesses that the shari'a relied on with named and written forms of identification. The chapter concludes with a discussion about the implications of this rise of a free-floating individual for conceptions of legal equality. (shrink)