This article deals with the impact of the free, democratic and peaceful accession to power of the Islamic Justice and Development Party (JDP) in Turkey on the Arab world in general and on the Islamic currents active in Arab societies in particular. A main point is looking into how Arab political formations and especially political Islam are trying to make sense out of such recent developments in Turkey as: (1) the fact that traditionally reviled Turkish secularism, Kemalism and westernism could (...) produce a democratic form of political Islam capable of winning free elections and ruling Turkey without a catastrophe befalling the whole polity; and (2) the fact that an Islamic JDP is the most eager proponent of Turkey’s membership in the secular EU, while the traditional staunch military guardian of Turkish secularism is now the main obstructor of the drive for EU membership. (shrink)

Objectives: The present study examined relationships among gaze behaviour and cardiac vagal tone using a novel stress-inducing task.Methods: Participants’ eye movements and heart rate variability were measured during an unsolvable computer-based task randomly presenting feedback of “Right” and “Wrong” answers distinctly onscreen after each trial. Subgroups were created on the basis of more frequent eye movements to the right or wrong areas onscreen.Results: Correct-Attenders maintained HRV from baseline to the stress task. In contrast, Incorrect-Attenders spent significantly more time viewing “Wrong” (...) feedback, exhibited a reduction in HRV during the stress condition, and were more likely to negatively self-evaluate performance.Conclusions: Results demonstrate that pervasive attention to negative feedback elicits perseverative stress and negative self-evaluations among university students. This study highlights the potential for studying attentional biases and emotional distress through combined measures of gaze behaviour and cardiac vagal tone. (shrink)

With a certain graphic interpretation in mind, we say that a function whose value at every point in its domain is a nonempty set of real numbers is an Abacus. It is shown that to every collection C of abaci there corresponds a logic, called an abacus logic, i.e., a certain set of propositions partially ordered by generalized implication. It is also shown that to every collection C of abaci there corresponds a theory JC in a classical propositional calculus such (...) that the abacus logic determined by C is isomorphic to the poset of JC. Two examples are given. In both examples abacus logic is a lattice in which there happens to be an operation of orthocomplementation. In the first example abacus logic turns out to be the Lindenbaum algebra of JC. In the second example abacus logic is a lattice isomorphic to the ortholattice of subspaces of a Hilbert space. Thus quantum logic can be regarded as an abacus logic. Without suggesting "hidden variables" it is finally shown that the Lindenbaum algebra of the theory in the second example is a subalgebra of the abacus logic B of the kind studied in example 1. It turns out that the "classical observables" associated with B and the "quantum observables" associated with quantum logic are not unrelated. The value of a classical observable contains, in coded form, information about the "uncertainty" of a quantum observable. This information is retrieved by decoding the value of the corresponding classical observable. (shrink)

In much the same way that it is possible to construct a model of hyperbolic geometry in the Euclidean plane, it is possible to model quantum logic within the classical propositional calculus.

ABSTRACT Studies on bottom-line mentality suggest that an exclusive focus on bottom-line outcomes has detrimental consequences; however, it is not clear when this leads to negative outcomes. This study examines the role of supervisors’ BLM in fostering workaholism in subordinates. These supervisors, by creating a bottom-line driven environment, may intensify workaholism, leading to workplace cheating behavior. However, not all subordinates react in the same manner. We theorize that the positive relationship between supervisor BLM and workplace cheating behavior through workaholism is (...) strengthened when the psychological entitlement is high. The moderation-mediation model was tested with data from 193 employees working in various industries. Our findings demonstrate that under conditions of high psychological entitlement, workaholism resulting from supervisor BLM leads to workplace cheating behavior. Implications of these findings have been discussed. (shrink)

The objective of the paper is to analyze whether that the pharmaceutical companies producing HIV drugs have moral obligation(s) towards the HIV victims in developing countries who don‟t have access to get drug to reduce their risks. The primary assessment is that the pharmaceutical companies have minimum moral obligation(s) to the HIV patients especially in developing countries. It is because they are human beings and hence they are the subject of moral considerations. The paper argues that from the sense of (...) benevolence, there may be an obligation that will tend pharmaceutical companies to make an opportunity of the concerned HIV patients of developing countries to get drugs. The discussion will be made from the utilitarian point of view. Though it is assumed that, utilitarianism is too demanding, I will show that the too demanding ness of utilitarianism can be minimized and it will not be contradictory with the main theme of utilitarian morality. In this respect the counter examples and arguments will also be analyzed to make the claim stronger. The paper also argues that though the primary aim of the pharmaceutical companies is to make money, the actions that might be taken by the pharmaceutical companies for the welfare of HIV victims will not hamper them in making money for which they are deployed. (shrink)

Euthanasia or mercy killing is, now a day, a major problem widely discussed in medical field. Medical professionals are facing dilemma to take decision regarding their incompetent patient while tend to do euthanasia. The dilemma is by nature moral i.e. whether it is morally permissible or not. In some countries of Europe and in some provinces of USA euthanasia is legally permitted fulfilling some conditions. It is claimed by Rachels that in our practical medical practice we do euthanasia by forbidding (...) patients from taking drugs. He concludes that if that type of euthanasia can be practiced in our society without any hesitation then why assisting euthanasia will not be permitted1. There are so many arguments both pro and con of euthanasia. But it is not the function of the current paper to discuss all the arguments. Philippa Foot in her article „Euthanasia‟ and J Velleman in his article titled as „A Right to Self-termination‟ discussed about the permissibility of euthanasia. The objective of the paper is to justify their arguments and then come to a conclusion regarding the permissibility of euthanasia. The focus will be given mainly on non- voluntary active and non-voluntary passive euthanasia. The method of discussion will be that an example will be given from Bangladesh and then the arguments provided by Foot and Velleman in their above mentioned papers will be discussed to justify the act of euthanasia on concerned patient. In the last section of the paper the situation of Bangladesh will also be considered for the permissibility of euthanasia i.e. whether the act of euthanasia can be permitted in our country considering the existing socio-cultural-religious practice. (shrink)

Most research on image schema examined the meaning configuration of words connotation. However, previous studies of adjectives are meaningful in cognitive linguistics because they provide insight into how those adjectives are involved with psychological movement. In this sense, from the perspective of cognitive linguistics, one’s conceptualization and cognition are closely associated with their bodily experience and surroundings; adjectives are no exception. The varieties of transformations of image schemas lay the foundation for the conception and perception. Accordingly, this study is an (...) investigation into the perception of adjectives and psychological activities associated with image schema. Data in this study come from adjectives in the novel The Great Gatsby, which were tagged and calculated with the help of software Python and the NLTK package. The results demonstrate that a significant amount of adjectives were used in the novel. Moreover, Nick’s psychological activities changed significantly from the SOURCE to the DESTINATION schematic stage, which is uncovered by his expression of adjectives. Finally, the results further suggest that transformations of image schema as BALANCE, CONTAINER, and PATH work together to motivate one’s linguistic expression of adjectives. The present findings have several implications for research on lexicons and literacy interpretation from cognitive linguistics. (shrink)

Liberal multicultural theories developed in late twenty-first century aims to ensure the rights of the minorities, social justice and harmony in liberal societies. Will Kymlicka is the leading philosopher in this field. He advocates minority rights, their autonomy and the way minority groups can be accommodated in a liberal society with their distinct cultural identity. Besides him, there are other political theorists on the track and Galston is one of them. He disagrees with Kymlicka on some crucial points, particularly regarding (...) the scope of civil rights of the minority groups and the responsibilities of both majority and minority groups for the sake of social harmony and justice. He tries to develop a moral theory of mutualism based on inter-community toleration and constitutionalism. Considering toleration as one of the fundamental liberal virtues he contends that the majority government has the responsibility to make arrangement both for the members of majority and minority groups so that they can build inter personal relation and learn toleration. The paper critically justifies the feasibility of his theory in a liberal society and claims that although Galston’s theory has a higher possibility to be accommodated in liberal societies, it eventually fails. (shrink)

The objective of the paper is to justify the claim for animals‟ rights. For years, it is one of the most debated questions in the field of applied ethics whether animals‟ have rights or not. There are a number of philosophers who hold that animals are neither moral agent nor rational being and hence animals have no rights because the concept of rights is applicable only to the rational beings. On the other hand the proponents of animals‟ rights contend that (...) the standard for having rights is not active rationality but sentience and animals have sentience as they feel pain. So they are also subject to have rights. The main questions to be justified in this essay are, what is it to say that animals have rights? Can animals have any rights at all, if yes, how far? Is it the moral obligation of the human being to ensure animals rights? Considering the questions, in this essay, it will be shown that animals have limited rights and not all animals are subject to having the same rights. It depends on the proportion of their having capacity and capability for the same. It will be tried to make a consensus between the two groups by the way that there are some aspects where we are to acknowledge the rights of animal. It will be shown that not all animals are subject to equal rights. (shrink)

The objective of the paper is to explore the issue that despite the absence of adequate formal and systematic ways for the poor and disadvantaged people to get access to health benefit like in a rich liberal society, there are active social customs, feelings and individual and collective responsibilities among the people that help the disadvantaged and poor people to have access to the minimum health care facility in both liberal and non-liberal poor countries. In order to explain the importance (...) and functional contribution of the social norms in this respect, some examples will be illustrated from Bangladesh which is a poor liberal country. There will be two sections of the paper. In the first section, it will be exhibited how the naturally and socially disadvantaged people in a liberal society get benefit following Rawls‟ theory of distributive justice. In the second section, it will be showed that in a poor country where there are less resources of the government to provide enough services to the poor and disadvantaged people, the communal feelings and the informal social institutions play a vital role that helps the disadvantaged and poor people to get access to the health benefit. The traditional social norms impose indirect sanction on its people to come forward to help the worse off people of the country. It is depicted that Rawlsian theory of distribution does not work properly in these countries, rather the communitarian feelings is more welcomed for the benefit of the overall welfare of the society and this will be shown in the conclusion of the paper. (shrink)

Personhood argument is important in moral philosophy specially to determine the moral status of a being (human or non-human) and organism. Justifying moral status of these is significant and necessary because without knowing whether those substances have moral status, it is difficult to sketch a moral considering framework for moral action towards them. There are a number of standards e.g. sentience, higher cognitive capacities, the capacity to flourish, sociability, the possession of life, viability, personhood etc, to determine moral status of (...) human beings, non-human beings and organisms. In biomedical ethics it is widely discussed whether the abnormal and marginal human beings, animals and foetus are moral agents. The beings and organisms which qualify the test for moral status are considered as moral agents and the society has moral obligations to ensure their moral rights. Personhood is one of the criteria to determine a being or organism as a moral agent. In this article I will examine whether the argument of personhood is acceptable in justifying the agency of different kinds of beings and organisms. It is because the personhood requirement for the moral status is too demanding as claimed by contemporary ethicists who work for animal rights and the rights of the foetus to flourish. (shrink)

Distribution of sufficient health care resources to the maximum number of people in LIC is the central theme of the book. Bangladesh is taken as a representative of low income countries (LIe. In LIC, there is scarcity of health care resources like other resources but the deserving persons are numerous. Therefore, it requires an efficient distribution of resources. Considering 'Inequality to get access to health care' as the basic problem in LIC, John Rawls' principle of fair equality of opportunity is (...) proposed to apply to give people access to health care resources. In this book it is critically analyzed how the principle fails to return a good result in LIC. Instead the principle of maximizing utility is proposed for the purpose. It is argued that maximum number of people can be provided sufficient health care by applying the principle. The principle has also been justified theoretically in concerned low income country and a fruitful result has been achieved from the test. It is claimed that applying principle of utility to provide sufficient health care to the maximum number of people is the most efficient way of health care resources distribution in LIC. (shrink)

للنقود دور هام في حياة الناس والمجتمعات البشرية ، كما أن لها دورا أساسيا ومحوريا في النظام الاقتصادي. ويتعرض الاقتصاد إلى العديد من المشكلات والنكسات التي تترك الأثر البليغ في استقراره وأحواله ، وبالتالي ينعكس ذلك على الوضع الاقتصادي المتقلب على الأوضاع المعيشية ، والتجارية لأفراد المجتمع. وتبرز مشكلة انخفاض قيمة النقود كإحدى هذه المشكلات التي تصيب الاقتصاد ، وهو ما يُطلق عليه " التضخم " حيث تنخفض قيمة النقود مقابل ارتفاع سعر السلع والمواد. يؤثر هذا الانخفاض لقيمة النقود على (...) معاملات الناس وبيعهم بالأجل ، أو الديون التي لهم في ذمم الآخرين فيأتي موعد القرض أو البيع بالأجل وقد تبدلت قيمة النقود من حيث قوتها وقيمتها الحقيقية ، فيكون المدفوع عند حلول الأجل غير مساوٍ أو مكافئ للمدفوع في أول العقد وبداية التعامل. فيقع الغُبنُ الكبير على أحد طرفي العقد دون تقصير أو سبب منه. فهل هناك اعتبار لتبدل قيمة النقود ارتفاعا أو انخفاضا في سداد الديون أو الحقوق المترتبة في الذمة أم لا ؟ تعددت أقوال العلماء في هذه المسألة : فمنهم من قالوا: بوجوب ارجاع المثل ، والبعض الآخر قالوا : برد القيمة ، ومنهم من فرّق بين الاختلاف اليسير والكبير في قيمة النقود ، ومنهم من جعل الخسارة مناصفة بين طرفي العقد. Para, insanların ve insan toplumlarının yaşamlarında önemli bir role sahiptir. Aynı zamanda ekonomik sisteminde temel ve çok önemli bir rolü de mevcuttur. Ekonomi, istikrarı ve koşulları üzerinde finansal bir etki bırakan pek çok sorun ve aksaklıkla karşı karşıyadır ve bu durum, yaşam koşullarındaki dalgalı ekonomik duruma ve toplumdaki bireylerin ticaretine yansımaktadır. Paranın değerinin düşmesi sorunu, ekonomiyi etkileyen bu sorunlardan biri olarak karşımıza çıkıyor. Paranın değerinin düşmesi sorunu, malların ve malzemelerin fiyatındaki artış karşılığında paranın değerinin düştüğü "enflasyon" olarak adlandırılan ekonomiyi etkileyen bu sorunlardan biri olarak ortaya çıkıyor. Paranın değerindeki bu düşüş, insanların işlemlerini ve krediyle satmalarını veya başkalarının borçlarında sahip oldukları borçları etkilediğinden, kredi veya satış zamanı zamanında gelir ve paranın değeri mukavemet ve gerçek değer, böylece sözleşmenin başında ve anlaşmanın başında ödenen zamandaki ödeme eşit veya eşdeğer değildir. Sözleşmenin taraflarından birine temerrüt veya sebep olmaksızın önemli adaletsizlik düşer. Borcun ödenmesinde veya borçtan doğan haklarda paranın değerinin artması veya azalması gibi bir husus var mıdır? Âlimlerin bu konuda çeşitli açıklamaları vardır. Birçok alim aynısı zorunludur derken başka alimler küçük ve büyük farklılıklar arasında farklılık gösterilir görüşü belirtmişlerdir. Ayrıca, paranın değer kaybı akdin iki tarafın arasında bölünmeli gibi görüşler mevcuttur. (shrink)

This study investigates the moderating effect of students’ programs on entrepreneurship education aimed at pre-start-up and its effect on the students’ behavior. This study also attempts the level of entrepreneurship education and pre-start-up behavior among students. A survey was carried out among 441 final year students, including 214 students from business programs, and 227 students from non-business programs. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS 22 and SmartPLS 3.3.0, to perform descriptive and multi-group analysis, including assessment of measurement invariance of the (...) composite model. The results reveal that all direct relationships were supported. It was also found that student programs do have a moderating effect on the relationship between entrepreneurship education and pre-start-up behavior. Furthermore, the results discovered that risk control is a crucial component of entrepreneurship education and should be highlighted in the curriculum. This study contributes to the literature by considering student programs as a moderator, a comparatively new factor in the pre-start-up behavior among university students at the tertiary level. Therefore, entrepreneurship education must be properly designed, and the co-curriculum must be properly organized, so that entrepreneurship will be the preferred career choice in the future. (shrink)

Le processus révolutionnaire de 2011 a fourni les conditions nécessaires à l’émergence d’une forme particulière d’activisme ayant pour objet principal le territoire urbain. L’activisme urbain égyptien milite pour l’abandon des instruments de la planification urbaine rationnelle et dénonce les dérives des pratiques gouvernementales et des actions des agences de développement internationales calquées sur celles de l’entreprise privée. En renouant avec les grandes lignes des politiques néolibérales du régime de Moubarak qui ont échoué à résorber la pauvreté urbaine, la politique de (...) grands projets lancée par Sissi remet en question les quelques avancées observées depuis la révolution de 2011 dans le champ de l’urbanisme et de l’aménagement du territoire. (shrink)

This article demonstrates the ‘patterning’ of the ways discourse markers such as okay, right and yeah are used in academic lectures by native speaker lecturers. It presents an analysis of a) what the lecturers thought they would say and b) what they actually say in comparison to what the lecturers actually do say. In other words, it focuses on the differences between expectations of what would be said and speech, that is, what is actually said.The data comprise verbatim lecture transcriptions (...) of four native speaker lecturers of different disciplines, analysed using a discourse analytical approach. The findings and discussions exhibit the reasons for the differences between the ‘anticipated’ and ‘real’ meanings of the use of these discourse markers.They also reflect upon the significance of non-verbal features in determining the actual functions of these markers. In short, this article highlights the reality use of okay, right and yeah as interactive conversational markers in academic lectures. (shrink)

The objective of the paper is to critically explicate the views of JS Mill in his "Utilitarianism" in regards to his efforts to clarify the concept of utilitarianism. In the first part of the paper it examined how successful was Mill in clarifying the idea of utilitarianism. In the second part of the paper, a critical discussion is presented to justify the applicability of his theory in dealing with contemporary moral dilemmas.

Tuberculosis has continued to retain its title as “the captain among these men of death”. This is evident as it is the leading cause of death globally from a single infectious agent. TB as it is fondly called has become a major threat to the achievement of the sustainable development goals (SDG) and hence require inputs from different research disciplines. This work presents a mathematical model of tuberculosis. A compartmental model of seven classes was used in the model formulation comprising (...) of the susceptible S, vaccinated V, exposed E, undiagnosed infectious I1, diagnosed infectious I2, treated T and recovered R. The stability analysis of the model was established as well as the condition for the model to undergo backward bifurcation. With the existence of backward bifurcation, keeping the basic reproduction number less than unity $$({R_{0}}<1)$$ is no more sufficient to keep TB out of the community. Hence, it is shown by the analysis that vaccination program, diagnosis and treatment helps to control the TB dynamics. In furtherance to that, it is shown that preference should be given to diagnosis over treatment as diagnosis precedes treatment. It is as well shown that at lower vaccination rate (0–20%), TB would still be endemic in the population. As such, high vaccination rate is required to send TB out of the community. (shrink)

We introduce new first-order languages for the elementary n-dimensional geometry and elementary n-dimensional affine geometry , based on extending equation image and equation image, respectively, with new function symbols. Here, β stands for the betweenness relation and ≡ for the congruence relation. We show that the associated theories admit effective quantifier elimination.

The present article analyzes and compares the idea of divine revelation to justify religious beliefs from the viewpoints of Paul Moser and Mulla Sadra. Moser suggests a kind of moral transformation experience that includes direct cognition and internal experience of self-revelation and God’s unselfish love while he considers mere theoretical reason to be inefficient and emphasizes God’s authority and His attributes and goals as well as the axis of divine revelation. Knowledge-by-presence and direct experience of God in Mulla Sadra’s philosophy (...) which is the only way to access true recognition of God is close to divine revelation. The present article shows that, considering the relationship between love and salvation, and knowledge-by-presence and the practical intellect, in Sadrian belief in God, Moser’s approach is close to Mulla Sadra’s even though the method of argumentation of these two philosophers in representing this type of cognition is not completely the same. Considering the commonalities and differences between Moser and Mulla Sadra in justifying belief in God, it seems possible to revise Moser’s approach with a Sadrian reading with a combination of innate nature arguments and self-knowledge. (shrink)

Sustainability is concerned with the impact of present actions on the ecosystems, societies, and environments of the future. Such concerns should be reflected in the strategic planning of sustainable corporations. Strategic intentions of this nature are operationalized through the adoption of a long-term focus and a more inclusive set of responsibilities focusing on ethical practices, employees, environment, and customers. A central hypothesis, that we test in this paper is that companies which attend to this set of responsibilities under the term (...) superior sustainable practices, have higher financial performance compared to those that do not engage in such practices. The target population of this study consists of the top 100 sustainable global companies in 2008 which have been selected from a universe of 3,000 firms from the developed countries and emerging markets. We find significant higher mean sales growth, return on assets, profit before taxation, and cash flows from operations in some activity sectors of the sample companies compared to the control companies over the period of 2006–2010. Furthermore, our findings show that the higher financial performance of sustainable companies has increased and been sustained over the sample. Notwithstanding sample limitation, causal evidence reported in this paper suggests that, there is bi-directional relationship between corporate social responsibilities practices and corporate financial performance. (shrink)

The focus of this paper is to develop a comprehensive conceptual framework for the relationship between internal employer brand image and talent retention. An extensive and semi-systematic literature review identified a number of antecedents and consequences that have been empirically tested in various cutting-edge research studies that were conducted around the world. The existing literature is reviewed using a topical approach, and 66 research studies, most recent from various repositories, were carefully chosen and reviewed based on the criteria. Such studies (...) have been discerned and synthesized in order to establish a complete and accurate understanding of the phenomenon. Finally, a comprehensive and relatively rich conceptual framework has been proposed for future empirical explanations in various social settings via prospective research. (shrink)

Although few studies examine the implications of breakthrough innovations in the exporting context, we have little understanding about how contingent factors in the developing countries shape the breakthrough innovations–export performance link. Thus, this study aims at examining the impact of breakthrough innovations on the export performance of SMEs in developing countries, while studying the role of contingent factors, i.e., institutional environment specificity and enforceability. The data were collected from a sample of 410 SMEs in Pakistan. Hypotheses were tested through structural (...) equation modeling in AMOS 20. The results reveal that both technology-based and market-based innovations have a positive impact on the export performance of SMEs in terms of strategic export performance and economic export performance. Second, institutional environment specificity and enforceability enhance the impact of breakthrough innovations on the export performance of SMEs. (shrink)

The right of freedom of religion is one of the fundamental rights guaranteed in the Malaysian Constitution. The provision over the right to freedom of religion is seen as one of the most crucial provisions ever stated in the Federal Constitution. Article 11 has never been amended. Indeed, provision in Article 3 reiterates the right of individuals, especially the non-Muslims to profess and practise their religion freely, without any fear and interference. The special status of the religion of Islam enshrined (...) in Article 3 does not mean that non-Muslims have no right in matter of freedom of religion. However, the Federal Constitution seems to restrict the right to freedom of religion, in the sense that freedom of religion in Malaysia is not absolute. There have been several restrictions imposed not only within the constitutional framework but also other general legislations. Among provisions that furnished such restrictions can be seen in Articles 11, 11 and 10 of the Federal Constitution. Moreover, the Parliament had also passed several legislations allowing such restrictions. This can be seen, among others, the Internal Security Act of 1960, the Societies Act of 1966, the Police Act of 1967, the Printing Presses and Publications Act of 1984, the Town and Country Planning Act of 1976 and the Penal Code. As such, Muslims and non-Muslims alike must adhere to certain religious constraints for the sake of public order, public health and morality.While freedom of religion is guaranteed for individuals in the Malaysian Constitution, some states in Malaysia have penalised Muslims who renounced the Islamic faith. Although there is no death penalty for apostasy in Malaysia, apostates are subject to punishments like fine, imprisonment and to a certain extent whipping. In certain states, apostates are detained at the rehabilitation centre for up to 36 months. These have brought concern to human rights activists because such punishments and detention may seem contrary to the right to freedom of religion enshrined under Article 11 of the Federal Constitution and Article 5 that guarantees individual liberty. This article attempts to investigate whether restrictions over the right of freedom of religion particularly when Muslims renounce the Islamic faith is constitutionally valid. It also intends to highlight the conflict in the laws surrounding the punishment for apostasy in various states in Malaysia. (shrink)

Discrimination between disabled and non-disabled people is still an issue of fairness and justice. In this COVID-19 pandemic time, this issue highlighted in a significant way. In hospital, the disabled persons to face today issues while triage like whether they have the right to get the ventilator first when there is limited ventilation support or their vulnerability could be the cause for being neglect or they do not have to have a quality of life. There are lots of ethical dilemmas (...) that we face today and these are not solvable overnight by the existing framework or policies. The existing paternalism, utilitarianism, or even ableism can not ensure making people living with disabilities (PLWD) rights equal. It is very clear that the professional expertise, policy or framework have so many loop holes that we are still struggling to take steps to effective and ethical decision making. This paper focuses the emergency of ethics based research, policy directions, and frameworks to eliminate those discriminations. (shrink)

Social media particularly Facebook has become a popular platform amongst medical professionals for both social and professional interactions. However, given the nature of such platforms, their use raises ethical concerns including violation of patient privacy and blurring of classical professional and patient-physician relationship boundaries. In order to investigate the pattern of Facebook usage among medical professionals in Pakistan, a mixed method study was conducted at five medical institutions in three different cities including Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. 806 participants, including 87 (...) faculty members, 239 trainees and 350 medical students, responded to the quantitative survey. Results were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences. For the qualitative arm, focus group discussions and in-depth interviews were conducted among [End Page 272] different groups, and analysed to draw out common themes. Results show that 44% of respondents found professional utility for Facebook. 36% of respondents had never changed their privacy settings and 44% indicated lack of confidence in current privacy settings of the medium. Respondents had posted identifiable patient content and non-identifiable patient content, with students and trainees posting such content more frequently than faculty. (shrink)