The Egyptian Sufi poet Mohammad ibn Sa‘îd al-Bûsîrî’s (d. 695/1296) work called Qasîdah al-Hamziyah, in which he tells the life of the Prophet, has attracted great attention in Muslim societies. The eulogy, which is met with interest by scholars dealing with the field of poetry and literature, is a text read in daily life in mawlid, ceremonies praising the Prophet, dhikr rings in sufi lodges, hadith lesson circles, and prayers. More than a hundred commentaries, annotations, tahmis, tastir and translations have (...) been written on the work. While many of these studies on Qasîdah al-Hamziyah have been conducted by renowned scholars, there are also scholars who have worked on the eulogy but are not mentioned in biographical sources. The subject of this study is one of the commentaries written about the eulogy and whose name is not found in the biographical sources. The name of the work written by Abdullah al-Shazelî al-Bahrî is Al-Cavâhir al-Seniyye fî Sharh al-Hamziyah. In this article, information was given about the name of the work, its belonging to the author, the date of copyright, its reason, the method of commentary, its style, its content, the sources used, and its features. Also, the critical edition of the three couplets’ commentary was written as a highly representative example. (shrink)

In this research work, we formulate the phenomena of the financial system in the fractional framework to describe the complex nature of finance. The basic definitions and ideas of the Caputo-Fabrizio fractional operator are listed. We introduce a novel numerical technique for the dynamical behaviour of our fractional model. The oscillatory and chaotic behaviour of the model is studied with the variation of various input parameters on the model. We have shown that there exists strong oscillatory and chaotic behaviour in (...) the system; moreover, we highlighted the impact of fractional-order parameter on the model. The conditions for the local complex behaviour of the system are analyzed with the impact of certain parameters on the macroeconomic. Our findings suggest that the values of initial conditions, fractional order, and input parameters can lessen the chaos of the proposed financial system. (shrink)

In this paper, a positive organizational ethics -based framework is informed by the microfinance and socially responsible investing movements to capture the process of sustainable financial innovations. Both of these movements are uniquely characterized by the formation of positive ethical networks to develop sustainability innovations in response to external crises. The crisis–PEN–innovation framework proposed makes four contributions to the POE literature: positions corporate sustainability through a POE lens; formalizes the PEN construction through POE theory; proposes PENs are mobilized to respond (...) to external crises; and demonstrates how PENs facilitate sustainability innovations. The theoretical framework is tested using theory-guided process tracing in the sustainable banking sector to understand how sustainability innovations were realized. The findings are consistent with the crisis–PEN–innovation framework proposed. (shrink)

O envelhecimento populacional é uma preocupação mundial e exige medidas de prevenção de saúde a serem adotadas com a maior brevidade possível. Esse processo é, muitas vezes, acompanhado pelo declínio das habilidades cognitivas, como a memória e as funções executivas. O objetivo do presente estudo é ..

Muslims living in England are living in a predicament. On the onehand, they have to face the reality that the laws governing the family institutionare secular in nature. This poses a threat to their identity and freedom ofreligion. On the other hand, they are commanded by Islam to settle theirdisputes according to its laws and principles. However, this is unrealistic,simply due to the fact that the only recognized legal system in England isthe English Law. To circumvent this situation, certain Muslim (...) scholars andcommunities have established quasi-judicial courts, acting in the capacity ofmediators, counsellors, arbitrators and even judges, in order to settle maritaldisputes. These courts, known as Shariah councils, provide a modern approachto alternative dispute resolution, whereby Muslim families and individualscan have their disputes resolved amicably. It was also set up as a response forMuslims to adapt to life under the English secular laws in which they live in,that do not afford them the right of having a Sharʑah-based institution. Onesuch Shariah council offering a modern approach to settling marital disputesamicably is the Islamic Council of Europe. The researcher conducted anin-depth interview with the said council and was able to collect a couple ofarbitrational cases and analysed them in order to give a better understandinginto its inner workings, its structural set-up and operation. Hence, this paperaims to critically and juristically analyse them from an Islamic legal maximperspective while taking the Muslim minority context into consideration. (shrink)

Muslims in the U.S. are increasingly looking to integrate into its society while trying not to lose their identity as Muslims. They find themselves in a dilemma when it comes to the issue of congratulating and even partaking in the festivals of non-Muslims in the U.S. This issue has gained prominence and momentum after the event of 9-11, in which the Muslims wanted to show and prove their tolerance and acceptance towards others while trying to hold onto and maintain the (...) core principles of Islam. For this reason, this topic is a hotly debated issue in the U.S. and the West in general and a cause of division and confusion amongst Muslims. However, in order to justify their position and feel that they are following the teachings of Islam, they turned to the Islamic scholars, both in the West and the Muslim world, regarding the permissibility or prohibition of congratulating and partaking in non-Muslim festivals. This paper employs a qualitative methodology to analyse the fatāwā of permissibility and its effects on the Muslims living as minorities in the U.S. This qualitative method will give readers an insight, through a questionnaire that was conducted by the researchers, into how the Muslims in the U.S. perceive the issue of congratulating and/or partaking in the religious festivals of the non-Muslims. (shrink)

Plato was the first philosopher in the Western tradition to reflect systematically on rhetoric. In this book, Tushar Irani presents a comprehensive and innovative reading of the Gorgias and the Phaedrus, the only two Platonic dialogues to focus on what an art of argument should look like, treating each of the texts individually, yet ultimately demonstrating how each can best be understood in light of the other. For Plato, the way in which we approach argument typically reveals something about (...) our deeper desires and motivations, particularly with respect to other people, and so the key to understanding his views on the proper practice of argument lies in his understanding of human psychology. According to this reading, rhetoric done well is simply the practice of philosophy, the pursuit of which has far-reaching implications for how we should relate to others and how we ought to live. (shrink)

In this empirical study, we present two new models that are corporate ethics based. The first model numerically quantifies the corporate value index (CV-Index) based on a set of predefined parameters and the second model estimates the market-to-book values of equity in relation to the CV-Index as well as other parameters. These models were applied to Canadian companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). Through our analysis, we found statistically significant evidence that corporate values (CV-Index) positively correlated with firm (...) performance. The results are even more significant for firms with low market-to-book values. Our empirical findings suggest that corporate ethics is vital for management, employees, shareholders, stakeholders, and the community at large. In addition, we have tested and confirmed five hypotheses that are used to illustrate corporate ethics behavior and performance. (shrink)

Today the halls of Technology, Entertainment, and Design and Davos reverberate with optimism that hacking, brainstorming, and crowdsourcing can transform citizenship, development, and education alike. This article examines these claims ethnographically and historically with an eye toward the kinds of social orders such practices produce. This article focuses on a hackathon, one emblematic site of social practice where techniques from information technology production become ways of remaking culture. Hackathons sometimes produce technologies, and they always, however, produce subjects. This article argues (...) that the hackathon rehearses an entrepreneurial citizenship celebrated in transnational cultures that orient toward Silicon Valley for models of social change. Such optimistic, high-velocity practice aligns, in India, with middle-class politics that favor quick and forceful action with socially similar collaborators over the contestations of mass democracy or the slow construction of coalition across difference. (shrink)

This paper focuses on a neglected portion of Plato’s Gorgias from 506c to 513d during Socrates’s discussion with Callicles. I claim that Callicles adopts the view that virtue lies in self-preservation in this part of the dialogue. Such a position allows him to assert the value of rhetoric in civic life by appealing not to the goodness of acting unjustly with impunity, but to the badness of suffering unjustly without remedy. On this view, the benefits of the life of rhetoric (...) depend on the idea that virtue consists in the power to protect oneself from the predations of others. I argue that by challenging this understanding of virtue as self-preservation, Socrates both deprives Callicles of any remaining justification for the rhetorical life in the Gorgias and, at the same time, makes room for his own defense of the life of philosophy. (shrink)

_Telling Stories to Change the World_ is a powerful collection of essays about community-based and interest-based projects where storytelling is used as a strategy for speaking out for justice. Contributors from locations across the globe—including Uganda, Darfur, China, Afghanistan, South Africa, New Orleans, and Chicago—describe grassroots projects in which communities use narrative as a way of exploring what a more just society might look like and what civic engagement means. These compelling accounts of resistance, hope, and vision showcase the power (...) of the storytelling form to generate critique and collective action. Together, these projects demonstrate the contemporary power of stories to stimulate engagement, active citizenship, the pride of identity, and the humility of human connectedness. (shrink)

This paper reevaluates the role of Adeimantus in Book 2 of Plato's Republic, arguing that his challenge to Socrates' view of justice—specifically, his interest in the influence of the outer world on our inner lives—serves a crucial yet underappreciated purpose in initiating the political project of the work. I suggest that it's due to Adeimantus' contribution in the Republic that Plato's wide-ranging inquiry into issues in ethics, politics, psychology, epistemology, and metaphysics hangs together as an integrated whole. A further benefit (...) of this reevaluation, I argue, is the way it illuminates Plato's assessment of poetry in the dialogue. This paper was delivered this past year as part of the Boston Area Colloquium in Ancient Philosophy. Comments are welcome but please do not cite without permission. (shrink)

This paper explores Plato’s views on the purpose of rhetorical form by surveying the way in which Socrates engages in speechmaking at several points in the Gorgias. I argue that Socrates has nothing in principle against the use of a long speech as part of the practice of philosophical inquiry and argument, provided that the speech is geared toward understanding. This reflects a key and relatively unremarked distinction that Socrates makes in the Gorgias between persuasion that comes from being convinced (...) and persuasion that comes from being taught. The kind of long speeches that Socrates objects to are those that have a conviction-based purpose. However, this leaves open the use of a wide variety of rhetorical techniques—pieces of argument, speechifying, analogy, myth, and exhortation—that have a teaching-based purpose, which is precisely the sort of rhetoric that Socrates licenses in the dialogue. (shrink)

In the ancient world, philosophy was understood to be a practical guide for living, or even itself a way of life. For philosophers today to ignore this dimension of philosophy is not to ignore an accidental subset of the subject that can be divorced from its essential nature - it is to ignore philosophy itself. The articulation of philosophy as a way of life and its pedagogical implementation advances the love of wisdom; it is not merely an addendum to it. (...) But how might we convey the love of wisdom as not only a body of dogmatic principles and axiomatic truths but also a lived exercise that can be practiced? This volume of essays brings historical views about philosophy as a way of life, coupled with their modern equivalents, more prevalently into the domain of the contemporary scholarly world. (shrink)

This is an Introduction to the special issue of Metaphilosophy entitled Philosophy as a Way of Life, giving a brief account of the genesis of the project, an overview of the topic, and a summary of the topics covered in the issue.

This collection of original essays examines the controversy over and attacks on rationality in the methodologies of the humanities and the physical and social sciences. These essays represent the thinking of a wide variety of philosophers, psychologists, historians, classicists, and economists about the role of rationality in thought and action. Reflecting the differing perspectives of their authors' disciplines, as well as the centrality of rationality to those disciplines, they are important additions to a debate that has been going on for (...) some twenty years. Beginning with an introductory essay in which K.D. Irani covers the various ways in which rationality can be approached, the body of the book is divided into five sections dealing with various aspects of the issue. Respectively, they are concerned with rationality as it relates to ethical and social thought and action; general scientific thought and the particular disciplines of economics, history, and law; the analytic and hermenutic approaches to communications and learning; and the contrasting classical traditions of ancient Greece and China. In the final section, two differing theories concerning the nature of rationality itself are presented. A list of suggested further readings completes the volume. (shrink)

This paper examines how Plato’s rejection of the friends of the forms at 248a–249b in the Sophist is continuous with the arguments that he develops shortly after this part of the dialogue for the interrelatedness of the forms. I claim that the interrelatedness of the forms implies that they are changed, and that this explains Plato’s rejection of the friends of the forms. Much here turns on the kind of change that Plato wants to attribute to the forms. I distinguish (...) my view of the sort of change that the forms experience from other kinds of change—such as ‘Cambridge change’—that scholars have believed Plato has in mind in rejecting the friends of the forms. On the view that I advance, a form experiences a change (which I call ‘perfect change’) in its association with another form that distinguishes it as the distinctive being that it is—that is, through its possession of its distinctive properties. (shrink)

I begin with a puzzle. According to some scholars, Plato’s view that the forms possess value as objects of desire gives rise to a problem in his metaphysics: how can forms of injustice and ugliness be considered desirable? To resolve this puzzle, I focus on Plato’s views on eros and argue that the philosopher’s love of forms is best understood as a kind of rational compulsion. Approaching the puzzle from this direction gives us an idea of how Plato’s forms might (...) be viewed as value laden. It also suggests an understanding of his metaphysics that’s less otherworldly than is often thought. (shrink)

The connection between the infinite nature of Quantum Cosmology and the infinite nature of God is presented here. At the beginning of the creation process, there was a single God/Void that was divided into many Gods/Voids all filled with Dark Energy consisting of photons which were responsible for creating the Multiverses made of matter, antimatter, space, time, charge, and multiple dimensions of space. The one God initially had no material existence which along with the laws of science was a creation (...) of the powers of His infinite mind. Since the process of creation started with the Dark Energy of the Voids, the Conservation of Energy Principle applied to all of them. If the Dark Energy of each Void were to be finite, then its energy would begin to decrease as Multiverses were created, and the only solution for not violating the Conservation of Energy Principle was that the Dark Energy of each of the Voids must be infinite implying that the Voids themselves must be infinite, and with infinite amount of energy be able to create an infinite number of Multiverses. According to Mathematics, all infinite numbers are not equal, some infinities are greater than other infinities. Hence of the many infinite Voids that were initially created, some Voids were greater than others. Each Void has a Supreme Leader that we refer to as God, and therefore there exist many Gods, some Gods more powerful than other Gods. (shrink)

The authors suggest that postcolonial science studies can do more than expand answers to questions already posed; it can generate different questions and different ways of looking at the world. To illustrate, the authors draw on existing histories and anthropologies and critical theories of colonial and postcolonial technoscience. To move forward together, rather than remaining mired in regretful contemplation of past biases, the authors offer some analytical and practical suggestions. In reading hegemonic forms of postcolonial computing, this article offers tactics (...) for rereading, rewriting, or reimagining those scripts. (shrink)

This edited collection focuses on the problem of social justice, or, more particularly, how the demand for social justice was articulated and implemented in ...

This is an Introduction to the special issue of Metaphilosophy entitled Philosophy as a Way of Life, giving a brief account of the genesis of the project, an overview of the topic, and a summary of the topics covered in the issue.

Özet Dini bilginin temel kaynağı olan Kur’an ve Sünnet’in Peygamberimizden bize haber yoluyla intikal ettiği hususu izahtan vârestedir. Rasûlullâh demek, Allah’tan aldığı bilgiyi insanlara ileten elçi, haberci demektir. Bu nedenle Peygamberlerden bize ulaşan dini bilgiye de haber ya da haber-i resûl denilmiştir. Rasûlullâh’tan teşrî’ ile ilgili gelen her haber, duyanlar ve tevâtür yoluyla ulaşılanlar için bila şek vela ihtilâf, kesinkes doğru ve bağlayıcıdır. Ancak bazı haberlerin Rasûlullâh’a nisbeti kesin olmadığı için ya da nisbeti kesin olsa da delâleti kesin olmadığı için (...) o haberlerin ifade ettiği bilgi de kesin değil, zannîdir. Kimi güdümlü veya meselenin mâhiyetinden bihaber bazı kişilerin; dinde zanla amel edilmez gibi temelsiz iddialarını bir tarafa bırakacak olursak, zannî bilgi, kesin bilgi mucibince bağlayıcıdır. Zannî bilginin, birden çok ihtimal barındırıp ictihad alanı olması bu durumu değiştirmez. Nitekim furû-i fıkhın çoğu zannî bilgi ifade eden haber-i vâhid ve ictihada mebnidir. İctihad, İslam hukukunun çok geniş bir alanını kapsamaktadır. Âmil durumda olduğu kıyas başta olmak üzere mesâlih-i mürsele, istihsan, sedd-i zerayi, sahâbe kavlinin delil değeri, istıshab, istıslah ve örfü de göz önüne aldığımızda karşımıza devasa bir alan çıkmaktadır. Bu kadar büyük bir alanı kapsayan ve böylesine ehemmiyetli bir konunun her türlü ilgi, alaka ve araştırmayı hak ettiğini düşünüyoruz. Sınırlı naslarla, sınırsız ihtiyaç ve sorunlara çözüm bulabilmenin yegâne yolu ictihattır. Aynı zamanda ictihat, İslam’ın kıyamete kadar her çağda ve her toplumda yaşanabilmesinin de temelidir. Dolayısıyla Zannî bilgiyi ve ictihadı reddetmek, İslam hukukunu sosyal yaşamdan çekmek demektir. Bu çalışmada, zannî bilginin tanımına, kapsamına, delil değerine, ictihadın tanımına, zanniyâtlarda ictihad edebilmenin delillerine, ictihad edebilme ehliyetine, zannî bilginin ve ictihadın reddi durumunda ortaya çıkacak sonuçlara yer verilmiştir. (shrink)

Since 2005, Malaysia has established several biobanks to keep in line with the advancement of biomedical research and development of biobanks in other countries such as the UK and the USA. Despite the establishment of several biobanks in Malaysia, little is known about the informed consent approach in biobanking research and its ethical challenges. This study aims to identify the approach in obtaining informed consent in the Malaysian biobanking for research and explore its ethical challenges. Using non-probability purposive sampling, an (...) in-depth interview with the key informants was conducted in Klang Valley. Based on the interviews, broad consent is the main approach used in obtaining informed consent in biobanking for research in Malaysia and five major ethical challenges were identified. These challenges include the informants’ opinion on the current informed consent approach, understanding participants’ rights, the role of the research ethics committee, biobanking governance in Malaysia, and informants’ knowledge and awareness. In summary, there is a lack of understanding among those involved in biobanking on the ethical, legal, and social aspects of biobanking for research in Malaysia. (shrink)

The development of neuropsychological assessment methods using virtual reality (VR) is a valid and promising option for the detection of cognitive impairment in the older people, focusing on activities composed of tasks of multiple demands. This study verified the association of age, schooling, and general cognitive status on the performance of neurologically healthy older adults in ECO-VR, a virtual reality task of multiple demands for neuropsychological assessment. A total of 111 older adults answered a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Mini Mental State (...) Examination, the Vocabulary subtest of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Adults (third edition), and the ECO-VR. Correlation analyses, multiple linear regression, and comparisons between groups (effects by age and schooling groups) were used to evaluate the results. The ECO-VR total score was significantly associated with age, years of education, MMSE, and Vocabulary subtest. The linear regression models identified that age was the main predictor for total score and rule breaking of ECO-VR. According to the univariate analysis, it was identified the main effect of age group and schooling group in the total ECO-VR score, but there was no interaction effect. The results are discussed in order to understand the role of sociodemographic characteristics in the performance of older adults in a virtual reality task of multiple demands. It was also verified the possibility use of virtual reality for neuropsychological assessment of older adults. (shrink)

Research on individual differences in facing the COVID-19 pandemic seems to be crucial in order to design diverse and highly effective intervention strategies. This study uses a sample of 302 North American participants who were recruited through the crowdsourcing platform ProA; different profiles were established, profiling variables of interest in facing the COVID-19 outbreak. Socio-demographic and psychological (personality traits, gratitude, life purpose, and religiosity) variables were explored. These results are of interest if we want to deepen the study of individual (...) differences at both a theoretical and applied level. (shrink)

Unfounded—conspiracy and health—beliefs about COVID-19 have accompanied the pandemic worldwide. Here, we examined cross-nationally the structure and correlates of these beliefs with an 8-item scale, using a multigroup confirmatory factor analysis. We obtained a two-factor model of unfounded (conspiracy and health) beliefs with good internal structure (average CFI = 0.98, RMSEA = 0.05, SRMR = 0.04), but a high correlation between the two factors (average latent factor correlation = 0.57). This model was replicable across 50 countries (total N = 13,579), (...) as evidenced by metric invariance between countries (CFI = 0.96, RMSEA = 0.06, SRMS = 0.07) as well as scalar invariance across genders (CFI = 0.98, RMSEA = 0.04, SRMS = 0.03) and educational levels (CFI = 0.98, RMSEA = 0.04, SRMS = 0.03). Also, lower levels of education, more fear of COVID-19, and more cynicism were weakly associated with stronger conspiracy and health beliefs. The study contributes to knowledge about the structure of unfounded beliefs, and reveals the potential relevance of affective (i.e., fear of COVID-19) and cognitive (i.e., cynicism) factors along with demographics, in endorsing such beliefs. In summary, we obtained cross-cultural evidence for the distinctiveness of unfounded conspiracy and health beliefs about COVID-19 in terms of their structure and correlates. (shrink)

O estudo do autoritarismo e da orientação à dominância social (SDO) tem virado foco de pesquisas recentemente, devido à sua importância na vida das pessoas. O artigo objetivou investigar a presença dos construtos autoritarismo e SDO em adolescentes e as variáveis comumente associadas, por meio de uma revisão sistemática utilizando o modelo PRISMA. Dois juízes consultaram as bases Pubmed, BVS, Scopus, Web of Science, PsycINFO e EBSCO. Dos 278 artigos encontrados 12 artigos foram selecionados. Identificou-se três categorias: transgeracionalidade, caraterísticas cognitivo-comportamentais, (...) e valores sociopolíticos. Os principais resultados sugerem que a transmissão do autoritarismo e da SDO está associada à relação estabelecida pelos pais, a fatores como a inteligência e a personalidade e a participação em atividades cívicas e sociais. Verificou-se a ausência de estudos experimentais e o predomínio de pesquisas com delineamento quantitativo transversal. É importante a identificação de posicionamentos políticos e visões sobre o mundo durante a adolescência. (shrink)

People with learning disability sometimes display challenging behaviour. This can be managed by use of antipsychotic medication or behavioural therapy or both. There is no solid evidence, however, that these therapies are safe and effective. A randomised controlled trial of antipsychotic medication has been proposed to deliver such evidence. However, this presents difficult issues in the ethics of research with learning disabled people. In particular, is a trial the most efficient and fairest way to evaluate practice in this area? This (...) paper reviews the clinical situation, gives the rationale for the trial, and analyses the ethical arguments for and against such a trial. (shrink)

The earlier volume in this series dealt with two religions of Indian origin, namely, Buddhism and Jainism. The Indian religious scene, however, is characterized by not only religions which originated in India but also by religions which entered India from outside India and made their home here. Thus religious life in India has been enlivened throughout its history by the presence of religions of foreign origin on its soil almost from the very time they came into existence. This volume covers (...) three such religions—Zoraoastrianism, Judaism, and Islam. In the case of Zoraostianism, even its very beginnings are intertwined with India, as Zoroastrianism reformed a preexisting religion which had strong links to the Vedic heritage of India. This relationship took on a new dimension when a Zoroastrian community, fearing persecution in Persia after its Arab conquest, sought shelter in western India and ultimately went on to produce India’s pioneering nationalist in the figure of Dadabhai Naoroji ( 1825-1917), also known as the Grand Old Man of India. Jews found refuge in south India after the destruction of the Temple by the Romans in 70 C.E. and have remained a part of the Indian religious scene since then, some even returning to Israel after it was founded in 1948. Islam arrived in Kerala as soon as it was founded and one of the earliest mosques in the history of Islam is found in India. Islam differs from the previously mentioned religions inasmuch as it went on to gain political hegemony over parts of the country for considerable periods of time, which meant that its impact on the religious life of the subcontinent has been greater compared to the other religions. It has also meant that Islam has existed in a religiously plural environment in India for a longer period than elsewhere in the world so that not only has Islam left a mark on India, India has also left its mark on it. Indeed all the three religions covered in this volume share this dual feature, that they have profoundly influenced Indian religious life and have also in turn been profoundly influenced by their presence in India. (shrink)

The earlier volume in this series dealt with two religions of Indian origin, namely, Buddhism and Jainism. The Indian religious scene, however, is characterized by not only religions which originated in India but also by religions which entered India from outside India and made their home here. Thus religious life in India has been enlivened throughout its history by the presence of religions of foreign origin on its soil almost from the very time they came into existence. This volume covers (...) three such religions—Zoraoastrianism, Judaism, and Islam. In the case of Zoraostianism, even its very beginnings are intertwined with India, as Zoroastrianism reformed a preexisting religion which had strong links to the Vedic heritage of India. This relationship took on a new dimension when a Zoroastrian community, fearing persecution in Persia after its Arab conquest, sought shelter in western India and ultimately went on to produce India’s pioneering nationalist in the figure of Dadabhai Naoroji ( 1825-1917), also known as the Grand Old Man of India. Jews found refuge in south India after the destruction of the Temple by the Romans in 70 C.E. and have remained a part of the Indian religious scene since then, some even returning to Israel after it was founded in 1948. Islam arrived in Kerala as soon as it was founded and one of the earliest mosques in the history of Islam is found in India. Islam differs from the previously mentioned religions inasmuch as it went on to gain political hegemony over parts of the country for considerable periods of time, which meant that its impact on the religious life of the subcontinent has been greater compared to the other religions. It has also meant that Islam has existed in a religiously plural environment in India for a longer period than elsewhere in the world so that not only has Islam left a mark on India, India has also left its mark on it. Indeed all the three religions covered in this volume share this dual feature, that they have profoundly influenced Indian religious life and have also in turn been profoundly influenced by their presence in India. (shrink)

Unfounded—conspiracy and health—beliefs about COVID-19 have accompanied the pandemic worldwide. Here, we examined cross-nationally the structure and correlates of these beliefs with an 8-item scale, using a multigroup confirmatory factor analysis. We obtained a two-factor model of unfounded (conspiracy and health) beliefs with good internal structure (average CFI = 0.98, RMSEA = 0.05, SRMR = 0.04), but a high correlation between the two factors (average latent factor correlation = 0.57). This model was replicable across 50 countries (total N = 13,579), (...) as evidenced by metric invariance between countries (CFI = 0.96, RMSEA = 0.06, SRMS = 0.07) as well as scalar invariance across genders (CFI = 0.98, RMSEA = 0.04, SRMS = 0.03) and educational levels (CFI = 0.98, RMSEA = 0.04, SRMS = 0.03). Also, lower levels of education, more fear of COVID-19, and more cynicism were weakly associated with stronger conspiracy and health beliefs. The study contributes to knowledge about the structure of unfounded beliefs, and reveals the potential relevance of affective (i.e., fear of COVID-19) and cognitive (i.e., cynicism) factors along with demographics, in endorsing such beliefs. In summary, we obtained cross-cultural evidence for the distinctiveness of unfounded conspiracy and health beliefs about COVID-19 in terms of their structure and correlates. (shrink)

Most clinical neurofeedback studies based on functional magnetic resonance imaging use the patient's own neural activity as feedback. The objective of this study was to create a subject-independent brain state classifier as part of a real-time fMRI neurofeedback system that can guide patients with depression in achieving a healthy brain state, and then to examine subsequent clinical changes. In a first step, a brain classifier based on a support vector machine was trained from the neural information of happy autobiographical imagery (...) and motor imagery blocks received from a healthy female participant during an MRI session. In the second step, 7 right-handed female patients with mild or moderate depressive symptoms were trained to match their own neural activity with the neural activity corresponding to the “happiness emotional brain state” of the healthy participant. The training was carried out using the rt-fMRI NF system guided by the brain-state classifier we had created. Thus, the informative voxels previously obtained in the first step, using SVM classification and Effect Mapping, were used to classify the Blood-Oxygen-Level Dependent activity of the patients and converted into real-time visual feedback during the neurofeedback training runs. Improvements in the classifier accuracy toward the end of the training were observed in all the patients [Session 4–1 Median = 6.563%; Range = 4.10–27.34; Wilcoxon Test, 2-tailed p = 0.031]. Clinical improvement also was observed in a blind standardized clinical evaluation [HDRS CE2-1 Median = 7; Range 2 to 15; Wilcoxon Test, 2-tailed p = 0.016], and in self-report assessments [BDI-II CE2-1 Median = 8; Range 1–15; Wilcoxon Test, 2-tailed p = 0.031]. In addition, the clinical improvement was still present 10 days after the intervention [BDI-II CE3-2_Median = 0; Range −1 to 2; Wilcoxon Test, 2-tailed p = 0.50/ HDRS CE3-2 Median = 0; Range −1 to 2; Wilcoxon Test, 2-tailed p = 0.625]. Although the number of participants needs to be increased and a control group included to confirm these findings, the results suggest a novel option for neural modulation and clinical alleviation in depression using noninvasive stimulation technologies. (shrink)

Proper utilization of antenatal and postnatal care services plays an important role in reducing the maternal mortality ratio and infant mortality rate. This paper assesses the utilization of health care services during pregnancy, delivery and post-delivery among rural women in Uttar Pradesh and examines its determinants. Data from a baseline survey of UP Community Mobilization project was utilized. A cross-sectional sample of currently married women who delivered a baby 15 months prior to the survey was included. Information was collected from (...) 2208 women spread over five districts of UP. Information on socio-demography characteristics, utilization of antenatal care, delivery and postnatal care services was collected. To examine the determinants of utilization of maternal health services, the variables included were three ANC visits, institutional delivery and PNC within 42 days of delivery. Separate multilevel random intercept logistic regressions were used to account for clustering at a block and gram panchayat level after adjusting for covariates. Eighty-three percent of women had any ANC. Of them, 61% reported three or more ANC visits. Although 68% of women delivered in a health facility, 29% stayed for at least 48 h. Any PNC within 42 days after delivery was reported by 26% of women. In the adjusted analysis, women with increasing number of contacts with the health worker during the antenatal period, women exposed to mass-media and non-marginalized women were more likely to have at least three ANC visits during pregnancy. Non-marginalized women and women with at least three ANC visits were more likely than their counterparts to deliver in an institution. Contacts with health worker during pregnancy, marginalization, at least three ANC visits and institutional delivery were the strong determinants for utilization of PNC services. Self-help group membership had no association with the utilization of maternal health services. Utilization of maternal health services was low. Contact with the health worker and marginalization emerged as important factors for utilization of services. Although not associated with the utilization, SHGs can be used for delivering health care messages within and beyond the group. (shrink)

Consumers are bombarded with labels and claims that are intended to address their concerns about how food products are produced, processed, and regulated. Among those are the natural or all-natural claims and the certified organic label. In this study, two focus groups were conducted to explore consumers’ attitudes toward all-natural and organic pork and to gather their reactions to the USDA organic standards for meat, and the policy for natural claims. Results indicated that participants had positive associations with the terms (...) “organic” and “all-natural” with exceptions regarding the trustworthiness of all-natural claims. Participants perceived the “no” labeling theme (no antibiotics, no hormones, no chemicals, etc.) often coupled with the all-natural label on pork products as identifying potential health and animal welfare risks. In response to the USDA standards and policies for labeling pork products as organic or all-natural, participants expressed confusion and had many unanswered questions. (shrink)