We describe a knowledge representation and inference formalism, based on an intensional propositional semantic network, in which variables are structures terms consisting of quantifier, type, and other information. This has three important consequences for natural language processing. First, this leads to an extended, more natural formalism whose use and representations are consistent with the use of variables in natural language in two ways: the structure of representations mirrors the structure of the language and allows re-use phenomena such as pronouns and (...) ellipsis. Second, the formalism allows the specification of description subsumption as a partial ordering on related concepts (variable nodes in a semantic network) that relates more general concepts to more specific instances of that concept, as is done in language. Finally, this structured variable representation simplifies the resolution of some representational difficulties with certain classes of natural language sentences, namely, donkey sentences and sentences involving branching quantifiers. The implementation of this formalism is called ANALOG (A NAtural LOGIC) and its utility for natural language processing tasks is illustrated. (shrink)

This study investigates structural influence of the Madrassah system on effectiveness of its students in terms of civic health, system thinking and professional development. The researchers constructed the instrument of survey after rigorous literature review, frequent interaction with scholars, clerics and policy makers. The survey was administrated to 600 Madrassah’s students from different schools of thought. By applying T-test and Kruskal Waliss Rank Test for measurement of effectiveness and Structural Equation Modeling methodology the researchers has explored the relationship between the (...) variables, and later analyzed with the help of selected model. Findings of the study demonstrate that education system followed in Madrassahs does not seem to be effective and need-based in contemporary times. Indicators of Madrassah structure such as curriculum and openness negatively influences the students while peda­gogy positively influences the effectiveness of students of Madrasah in Pakistan. In the end, it is recommended that curriculum and pedagogy of Madrassah should be reformed and updated in accordance with knowledge-based economy. This will not only upgrade the poor segment of society but also bring together the variety of individuals close enough to understand each other. (shrink)

In this article, I present a critique of Robert Geraci's Apocalyptic artificial intelligence (AI) discourse, drawing attention to certain shortcomings which become apparent when the analytical lens shifts from religion to the race–religion nexus. Building on earlier work, I explore the phenomenon of existential risk associated with Apocalyptic AI in relation to “White Crisis,” a modern racial phenomenon with premodern religious origins. Adopting a critical race theoretical and decolonial perspective, I argue that all three phenomena are entangled and they should (...) be understood as a strategy, albeit perhaps merely rhetorical, for maintaining white hegemony under nonwhite contestation. I further suggest that this claim can be shown to be supported by the disclosure of continuity through change in the long‐durée entanglement of race and religion associated with the establishment, maintenance, expansion, and refinement of the modern/colonial world system if and when such phenomena are understood as iterative shifts in a programmatic trajectory of domination which might usefully be framed as “algorithmic racism.”. (shrink)

To determine the attitude of general practitioners towards continuing medical education and reasons motivating or hindering them from attending CME procedures, we conducted a cross-sectional survey from November 2013 to April 2014 in Karachi. Three hundred general practitioners who possessed a medical license for practice in Pakistan filled a pre-designed questionnaire consisting of questions pertaining to attitudes towards CME. Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS v16.0. 70.3% of the participants were males. Mean age was 47.75 ± 9.47 years. Only (...) 67.33% knew about CME and only 52% had attended a CME session. Reasons for attending CME procedures reported were: need for updating knowledge, skills and competencies, opportunity to meet colleagues and presenting scientific papers. Mean Likert score was 1.67 for those who thought CME is worthwhile and 1.44 for those who consider their clinical duties as the major hurdle in attending CME procedures. Most common cause for not attending CME was lack of knowledge followed by time constraint. Most physicians were not sufficiently informed about the potential benefits of CME and had never attended a CME session. Most common reason for attending CME procedures reported was need for updating knowledge, skills and competencies while reasons hindering physicians from attending CME were lack of knowledge and time constraint. (shrink)

The problem of finite-time stability of switched genetic regulatory networks with time-varying delays via Wirtinger’s integral inequality is addressed in this study. A novel Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional is proposed to capture the dynamical characteristic of GRNs. Using Wirtinger’s integral inequality, reciprocally convex combination technique and the average dwell time method conditions in the form of linear matrix inequalities are established for finite-time stability of switched GRNs. The applicability of the developed finite-time stability conditions is validated by numerical results.

The Canadian residential sector contributes approximately 80 megatons of GHGs to the environment yearly. With the ratification of Kyoto Protocol, Canada has committed to reduce its 1990 GHG emission levels by at least 5% between 2008 and 2012. To meet this target, Canada must evaluate and exploit all feasible means to reduce fossil fuel energy consumption and GHG emissions. Test-case Canadian houses were modeled in the building-energy simulation software ESP-r. Requisite housing stock data were extracted from Canada's residential end-use energy (...) surveys. Photovoltaic and wind-turbine energy systems were assessed for their contribution to electricity generation and GHG savings. Typical household electrical consumption versus renewable electricity generation was assessed to estimate the GHG reduction, cost saving in electricity, and the impact of these technologies on single detached houses. With the use of net-metering, 100% of electricity requirements can be met by these technologies in certain cases, resulting in significant reductions in GHG emissions. (shrink)

The genome of two completely unrelated individuals is quite similar apart from minor variations called single nucleotide polymorphisms which contribute to the uniqueness of each and every person. These single nucleotide polymorphisms are of great interest clinically as they are useful in figuring out the susceptibility of certain individuals to particular diseases and for recognizing varied responses to pharmacological interventions. This gives rise to the idea of ‘personalized medicine’ as an exciting new therapeutic science in this genomic era. Personalized medicine (...) suggests a unique treatment strategy based on an individual’s genetic make-up. Its key principles revolve around applied pharmaco-genomics, pharmaco-kinetics and pharmaco-proteomics. Herein, the ethical and legal aspects of personalized medicine in a new genomic era are briefly addressed. The ultimate goal is to comprehensively recognize all relevant forms of genetic variation in each individual and be able to interpret this information in a clinically meaningful manner within the ambit of ethical and legal considerations. The authors of this article firmly believe that personalized medicine has the potential to revolutionize the current landscape of medicine as it makes its way into clinical practice. (shrink)

Strategic orientation and innovation are vital determinants for accelerating the performance of small-to-medium-sized enterprises. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence confirming the innovation at the product and process levels that instigated the SMEs’ performance. Moreover, the mediating effect of process and product innovation can play a significant role in strategic orientation and manufacturing SMEs’ performance. In this respect, this study aims to examine the mediating effect of product and process innovation between strategic orientation and the performance of Malaysian (...) manufacturing SMEs. The questionnaire survey gathered data from 360 manufacturing SMEs and was analyzed using partial least square structural equation modeling to achieve these research objectives. The study analysis established that customer and entrepreneurial orientation significantly influence product and service innovation. However, the market orientation is significant for process innovation but insignificant for product-level innovation among SMEs. The study’s consequences exposed that process innovation has significantly mediated between the strategic orientation and SMEs performance. It implies that market, entrepreneurial, and customer-related strategies would substantially improve SMEs’ performance by harnessing innovation at product and process levels. The core insights provided by the current work are to strengthen the strategic orientation that can promote product and process innovation, thereby harnessing the SMEs’ performance. Additionally, the study’s significance and limitations were reported at the end. (shrink)

In this paper, I revisit Dr. R. C. Zaehner’s claim, found in “Vedanta in Muslim Dress” in “Hindu and Muslim Mysticism,” that an early Sufi mystic, Abū Yazīd al-Bisṭamī (d. 874), was strongly influenced by a mysterious teacher called Abū ‘Alī al-Sindī, who Zaehner claimed was a practitioner of Advaita Vedanta and taught al-Bisṭamī “ultimate truths” that appear to be gleaned directly from the Upaniṣads. I revisit Zaehner’s original claims and examine his conclusions in light of history and theology with (...) special attention to al-Bisṭamī’s shaṭḥiyāt, or ecstatic utterances, and his doctrine of fanā, or annihilation, alongside the teachings and writings of Adi Ṣankara. By demonstrating correlations in theology and situating them in the historical timeline, it becomes apparent that while it may be difficult to make absolute claims, the prospect of a transformative theological interchange is not only reasonably possible, but demonstratively likely, and has been ignored, glossed over, or denied by later biographers. By reclaiming this history, a door to further inquiry is opened, adding to the complexity and nuance of historical Muslim-Hindu encounters. (shrink)

_In 1497, Syed Muhammad Jaunpuri of India claimed to be a reformer with the mission to purify Islam by justifying his claim according to the teachings and sayings of the Prophet of Islam. He started by curbing the innovations, focusing on belief in Allah, offering prayers, search for God and the truth, and also challenging the religious scholars of his time. Thus, he was criticized by religious scholars by refuting Jaunpuri’s claim of being a reformer, interestingly, academicians have also (...) ignored Jaunpuri’s role as a reformer, but this paper discusses the life of Jaunpuri by focusing on his role as a reformer in India, moreover, this paper limits its scope with the life of Jaunpuri as a reformer. The research used a descriptive cum analytical approach which was aimed at making the research a qualitative one and for that various libraries of Pakistan and personal collections of followers of Jaunpuri were accessed, and at the same time, various websites were also surveyed. So, the research resolved that Jaunpuri was a reformer of the 15 th century India who did his best to reform the people and society of his time by bringing them closer to their Creator._. (shrink)

This study provides a ‘pyramid of hate’ perspective on issues and challenges facing minority religious communities in social and political climates that bestow permission to hate. Previous research shows that adverse social stereotypes and biases, together with non-inclusive policies and practices at the level of the state, create an enabling environment that signals the legitimacy of public hostility towards a minority community. This paper argues that such climates of hate within and outside the workplace may be better understood by paying (...) attention to the multiple levels of hate, i.e., biased attitudes, biased actions, discrimination and violence. In its extreme form, such climate may lead to indiscriminate massacres and genocide. This contextual study draws on interviews with 76 Shia Muslim professionals and employees in Pakistan to provide a ‘pyramid of hate’ perspective on issues of bias, discrimination and violence facing them. The study unveils a range of experiences, from subtle bias and stereotyping to blatant harassment, discrimination and hostilities facing Shia professionals and employees in Pakistan. The study is unique as it integrates the notion of pyramid of hate into management and organization studies and advances this theory by examining issues of sect-based bias, discrimination and violence within one religion. (shrink)

Based on the social exchange theory, the aim of this study is to identify the association between job stress state anger, emotional exhaustion and job turnover intention. This study postulates that job related stress and state anger among nurses during COVID-19 subsequently leads to their job turnover intentions. In addition, the study also aims to see the mediating role of emotional exhaustion between COVID-19-related job stress, state anger, and turnover intentions. The sample of this study is gathered from 335 registered (...) nurses working in Pakistani hospitals dealing with COVID-19-related patients. The interrelationships between variables are checked by using structural equation modeling through AMOS. Key findings confirm that COVID-19-related job stress and state anger had a significant effect on nurses’ turnover intentions. Furthermore, emotional exhaustion mediated the relationship between COVID-19-related job stress, state anger, and turnover intentions. There is a lack of research which has assessed the impact of Novel COVID-19-related job stress and state anger on nurses’ turnover intentions in hospitals, providing empirical evidence from a developing country-Pakistan. This study offers managerial implications for hospital management and health policymakers. Moreover, nursing managers need to pay attention to nurses’ turnover intentions who are facing the issue at the front line as patients receive their initial treatment from nurses in the COVID-19 outbreak. (shrink)

Soon after the first COVID-19 positive case was detected in Wuhan, China, the virus spread around the globe, and in no time, it was declared as a global pandemic by the WHO. Testing, which is the first step in identifying and diagnosing COVID-19, became the first need of the masses. Therefore, testing kits for COVID-19 were manufactured for efficiently detecting COVID-19. However, due to limited resources in the densely populated countries, testing capacity even after a year is still a limiting (...) factor for COVID-19 diagnosis on a larger scale and contributes to a lag in disease tracking and containment. Due to this reason, we started this study to provide a better cost-effective solution for enhancing the testing capacity so that the maximum number of people could get tested for COVID-19. For this purpose, we utilized the approach of artificial neural networks (ANN) to acquire the relevant data on COVID-19 and its testing. The data were analyzed by using Machine Learning, and probabilistic algorithms were applied to obtain a statistically proven solution for COVID-19 testing. The results obtained through ANN indicated that sample pooling is not only an effective way but also regarded as a “Gold standard” for testing samples when the prevalence of the disease is low in the population and the chances of getting a positive result are less. We further demonstrated through algorithms that pooling samples from 16 individuals is better than pooling samples of 8 individuals when there is a high likelihood of getting negative test results. These findings provide ground to the fact that if sample pooling will be employed on a larger scale, testing capacity will be considerably increased within limited available resources without compromising the test specificity. It will provide healthcare units and enterprises with solutions through scientifically proven algorithms, thus, saving a considerable amount of time and finances. This will eventually help in containing the spread of the pandemic in densely populated areas including vulnerably confined groups, such as nursing homes, hospitals, cruise ships, and military ships. (shrink)

The big five personality traits and entrepreneurial mindset are crucial individual-level elements that determine entrepreneurial intention. This study examines the impact of big five personality traits and EM, on EI using the theory of planned behavior. Besides, this study examined the role of entrepreneurial self-efficacy and attitude toward entrepreneurship influences EI. To achieve the research objectives, a quantitative approach was used. Structural equation modeling and path analysis were conducted using SmartPLS software. Data were collected from 270 respondents through online questionnaires. (...) Findings of the study revealed that big five personality traits influence ESE and ATE which led to EI. Finally, the moderating role of entrepreneurial passion was also found to have strong effect on influence ESE and ATE. This study offers evidence and insights that academics, educators, and others involved in the creation or expansion of entrepreneurial knowledge can use as a reference point. (shrink)

We investigate computable subshifts and the connection with effective symbolic dynamics. It is shown that a decidable Π01 class P is a subshift if and only if there exists a computable function F mapping 2ℕ to 2ℕ such that P is the set of itineraries of elements of 2ℕ. Π01 subshifts are constructed in 2ℕ and in 2ℤ which have no computable elements. We also consider the symbolic dynamics of maps on the unit interval.

Islamic education; Islamic ethics; thesis.

Famously posed by seventeenth-century French philosopher René Descartes, the mind–body problem remains unresolved in western philosophy and science, with both disciplines unable to move convincingly beyond the dualistic model. The persistence of dualism calls for a reframing of the problem through interdisciplinary modes of inquiry that include non-western points of view. One such perspective is Islamic theology of the soul, which, while approaching the problem from a distinct point of view, also adopts a position commensurate with dualism. Using this point (...) of convergence as a conceptual starting point, we argue that bringing into dialogue contemporary neuroscientific, philosophy of mind, and Sunni Islamic theological discourses may provide a fruitful way of reframing the age-old mind–body problem. This paper provides an overview of how these three discourses have approached the issue of the mind–body problem. Juxtaposing these three discourses, we hope, may ignite further scholarly di... (shrink)

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of two comparative leadership styles on organizational performance outcomes. The leadership styles undertaken is transformational and servant leadership. A sample of 155 participants is taken from profit-oriented service sector of Pakistan. Data through survey gathered on a five point likert scale from organizations. AMOS and SPSS are used for statistical analysis. The result shows that, transformational leadership has more impact on organizational learning than servant leadership. Furthermore organizational learning enhances organizational (...) performance. Managers and leaders of corporate sector can get benefited from this study. Their main objective is to maximize the profitability of organization thus, they can choose leadership style which polishes their abilities and helps them to achieve profit maximization. (shrink)

If the physical mind is located in quantized space of the brain then how does the physical mind become the self? This remains an unresolved problem. It can be restated as how mental representations or mental states get their informational contents, and of doing so in terms of the natural functions brain states have? We call these natural brain functions not teleosemantic functions, but rather teleological functions. This is because teleosemantics portrays mental representations which must have informational contents that track (...) “operational explanations of cognitive capacities” while teleological functions do not as they are hidden in quantized space, suggesting that mind is physical. Specifically teleonomic capacities have been built into us by natural selection, which naturally leads to a teleogical notion of function. Our claim is that teleofunctionality as unification of mental states has natural functions that carry intrinsic dispositions that may be broadly defined as ‘subjectivity’ or intrinsic information content of mental states. Mental states have intrinsic dispositions to change their functions, producing correspondences to the world that includes further layers of subtlety hidden in quantized space. How does intrinsic information self-replicate content in cases of mental misrepresentation? The putative special virtue of teleosemantics and its ability to give a theory of error through ‘uncertainty’ is discussed based on a teleological functionalist epistemology. (shrink)

v. 1. Introduction to the study of Qurʼan -- v. 2. Surat ul-Faateha to Surat-ul-Baqarah (sections 1-21) -- v. 3. Surat-ul-Baqarah (sections 22 to 37) -- v. 4. Surat-ul-Baqarah (sections 38-40), Surat Aal-e-Imran, Surat-un-Nisa (sections 1 and 2) -- v. 5. Surat-un-Nisa (sections 3 to 24), Surat Al-Maaʼidah (complete), Surat Al-Anʼaam (sections 1-5) -- v. 6. Surat Al-Anʼaam (sections 6-20) -- v. 7. Surat Yunus to Surat Ibrahim -- v. 8. Surat al-Hijr to Surat al-kahf -- v. 9. Surat Maryam (...) to Surat-ul-Moʼminoon -- v. 10. Surat-un-Noor to Surat-ul-Qasas -- v. 11. Suratul Ankaboot to Surat Faatir -- v. 12. Surat Yaaseen to Surat-ush-Shoora -- v. 13. Surat Zukhruf to Surat Toor -- v. 14. Surat-un-Najm to Surat-ul-Munafiqoon -- v. 15. Surat-at-Taghaabun to Surat-al-Infitaar -- v. 16. Surat-at-Tateef to surat-an-Naas. (shrink)

THIS little work embodies the substance of a lecture delivered to the Society for the Higher Training of Youths, and forms a mere attempt towards the exposition ...

Internet-of-Things (IoT) creates a significant impact in spectrum sensing, information retrieval, medical analysis, traffic management, etc. These applications require continuous information to perform a specific task. At the time, various intermediate attacks such as jamming, priority violation attacks, and spectrum poisoning attacks affect communication because of the open nature of wireless communication. These attacks create security and privacy issues while making data communication. Therefore, a new method autoencoder deep neural network (AENN) is developed by considering exploratory, evasion, causative, and priority (...) violation attack. The created method classifies the transmission outcomes used to predict the transmission state, whether it is jam data transmission or sensing data. After that, the sensing data is applied for network training that predicts the intermediate attacks. In addition to this, the channel access algorithm is used to validate the channel for every access that minimizes unauthorized access. After validating the channel according to the neural network, data have been transmitted over the network. The defined process is implemented, and the system minimizes different attacks on various levels of energy consumption. The effectiveness of the system is implemented using TensorFlow, and the system ensures the 99.02% of detection rate when compared with other techniques. (shrink)

This study concentrates on adaptive event-triggered control of complex dynamical networks with unpredictable coupling delays and stochastic deception attacks. The adaptive event-triggered mechanism is used to avoid the wasting of limited bandwidth. The probability of data communicated by the network is established by statistical properties and Bernoulli stochastic variables with an uncertain occurrence probability. Stability analysis based on Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional and the stability of the closed-loop system is guaranteed. Using the LMI technique, we obtain triggered parameters. To demonstrate the feasibility (...) and usefulness of the suggested methodology, two examples are shown. (shrink)

Financial literacy is essential for every individual concerned with public welfare and household portfolio choices. In this study, we investigate the impact of household financial literacy on individuals’ financial behavior using the China Household Financial Survey Data of 2015 and 2017. The results show that financial knowledge has significant current, long-term, and dynamic effects on financial behavior. This finding suggests that financial literacy is an important factor in shaping and improving financial behavior. Second, financial literacy can improve residents’ limited attention, (...) and residents with high attention tend to have formal bank accounts, participate in the stock market, and engage in financial behaviors in situations such as risky financial markets. High attention also helps to improve residents’ financial behavior. This relationship suggests that financial literacy positively impacts formal bank account holding, participation in financial markets, participation in commercial insurance, participation in pension plans, and credit card holdings through limited attention channels that facilitate access to specific financial information. In addition, heterogeneity analysis showed that the impact of financial literacy on financial behavior differs significantly between urban and rural households, between men and women, and between high and low education levels. The study provides valuable insights for policy implications to enhance financial literacy, such as carrying out financial training to improve residents’ knowledge about financial aspects, which further helps to optimize household financial decision-making. (shrink)

Recently there is an increasing technological development in intelligent tutoring systems. This field has become interesting to many researchers. In this paper, we present an intelligent tutoring system for teaching information security. This intelligent tutoring systems target the students enrolled in Advanced Topics in Information Security in the faculty of Engineering and Information Technology at Al-Azhar University in Gaza. Through which the student will be able to study the course and solve related problems. An evaluation of the intelligent tutoring systems (...) was carried out and the results were promising. (shrink)

_This paper explores the theoretical review of job crafting behavior in service organizations by reviewing the literature on innovation capabilities. A workforce with proactive traits faces less environmental restriction and shows more groundbreaking behaviors of novel change. The current study has moved its emphasis from the influence of organizational job design on worker consequences to the inspection of the part that the workforce plays in defining task, social, and cognitive limits of work to verify innovation. Thus, innovation change is sighted (...) as the exploitation of novelty that entails alterations in work tasks for positive outcomes. This conceptual paper discusses the roles of innovation capabilities and job-crafting behavior in the IT industry. Refereeing to the theory of regulatory focus, the main objective of this paper is to create a new conceptual framework to understand the influence of employees’ perception of innovation capabilities by underpinning the regulatory focus model on job crafting behavior in the IT industry. _. (shrink)

The Holy Qur’an relates believers’ pure emotions to brotherhood. From the perspective of Islam, it has been also affirmed that two people have the same thoughts and opinions in one centre point of love in brotherhood, so fraternal feelings are not merely limited to kinship and consanguinity. In this line, the Holy Qur’an states that we have come to make you brothers with each other; not a brotherhood from parents, but an Islamic one, which is highly appreciated in the Islamic (...) society. In addition, a believing brother can never be filled when his fellow believer is hungry, and he cannot be clothed while the other is with nothing on. Islam further considers all Muslims as one family and calls everyone brothers and sisters or siblings. The true Muslims of any race and tribe as well as any language and age thus have a deep sense of brotherhood with each other, even if one lives in the Eastern parts of the world and the other in the West. In sum, this article aimed to investigate the role of religious teachings in strengthening believers’ brotherhood in the Islamic society. For this purpose, firstly, the definition of religious brotherhood was provided; secondly, religious brotherhood has been described based on the Holy Qur’an.Contribution: This article helped gain a new insight into the role of Islamic teachings in strengthening religious brotherhood in the Islamic society. Besides, the indicators of religious brotherhood were extracted and then enlightened according to the Ayat (viz. verses) from the Holy Qur’an. (shrink)