This article examines the relationship between religion, tradition and identity as seen from the myth about eclipses in a village in Central Java. Javanese people in rural areas still hold beliefs passed down from their ancestors about eclipses, both lunar and solar eclipses. Using a qualitative approach, the results of the study showed that the villagers believe that eclipses occur because of evil giants called buto named Batara Kala who try to devour the sun or the moon. This natural phenomenon (...) is believed to bring disaster to pregnant women and livestock. To fight the disaster, they must perform certain ceremonies or rituals. Based on ethnographic studies, this research provides an overview of eclipse mythology for Javanese locals and analyses it from identity theory. This shows that mythical rituals reflect a continuous identity formation. Although the traditions associated with these myths to some extent transcend the boundaries of the Islamic religion, they remain unchallenged. CONTRIBUTION: This research suggests that myths play an important role in the life and identity of the people who believe in them and perform the rituals associated with them. (shrink)

In many cases, mosques have been accused by anti-terror agencies as a potential place to spread transnational Islamic ideologies. This study examines the perceptions of mosque administrators (ta’mīr) about Pancasila, Islamic sharia and transnational ideology. This research took place in South Tambun, a densely populated subdistrict in Bekasi, West Java. Mostly populated by urbanites, it has heterogeneous religious understanding. A quantitative research method with descriptive statistics is used in this study to analyse the results of the survey conducted. Furthermore, a (...) qualitative technique is carried out through a series of interviews conducted with the respondents. Triangulation is carried out to increase the validity and credibility of the findings. The results showed that 40% of mosque administrators surveyed thought that transnational ideologies were not in accordance with the spirit of Pancasila. Meanwhile, the remaining 40% and 20% of respondents, respectively, consider transnational ideologies to be dangerous to social order, and divisive. The qualitative analysis shows that the respondents do not want the implementation of Islamic sharia and an Islamic state within the Indonesian constitutional framework.Contribution: This research can be used by policymakers and anti-terror agents to proportionally and participatively involve mosque administrators to narrow the wiggle room for the spread of transnational ideology. (shrink)

This study was carried out to investigate the roles of epistemic beliefs and writing self-efficacy in predicting second language writing anxiety among learners of English as a foreign language. To this end, three validated scales were distributed among 240 EFL students. They were asked to complete the questionnaires during their regular courses. A structural equation modeling approach was utilized to analyze the hypothesized SEM model and the causal paths among the constructs. The direct and indirect path analyses of the hypothesized (...) model indicated that EBs and WSE accounted for 43% of the variance in L2WA. Although both constructs had a significant effect on L2WA, EBs turned out to be a robust predictor of increasing L2WA. Notably, it was revealed that learners’ EBs directly and significantly influenced their L2WA. Besides, the results indicated that WSE had a unique effect in reducing L2WA. More precisely, students who had a higher level of EBs seemed to have a greater L2WA, and those who had a higher level of WSE experienced less L2WA. The findings of this explanatory study suggest that L2 teachers and material developers should pay serious attention to the Students’ cognitive and affective variables as they were known to be significant factors in influencing L2WA. (shrink)

This study linked background TV and socioeconomic status to minority children’s Persian vocabulary development. To this end, 80 Iranian preschool children from two minority groups of Arabs and Turks were selected using stratified random sampling. They were simultaneous bilinguals, i.e., their mother tongue was either Arabic or Azari and their first language was Persian. Language sample analysis was used to measure vocabulary development through a 15-min interview by language experts. The LSA measures included total number of utterances, total number of (...) words, total number of new words, and mean length of utterance. A series of independent-samples t test, paired-samples t test, and repeated measures MANOVA tests were ran to examine data. Results showed significant improvements in children’s vocabulary scores from pretest to posttest for all children. In addition, high-SES children scored higher on the vocabulary measures in pretest and posttest. Moreover, background TV was associated with higher means in the TNW and the NDW in groups. The researchers concluded that background TV may be related to higher vocabulary scores in low-SES families as it may compensate for some linguistics gaps in these families including lower amount of child-parent interaction, play, and parents’ level of literacy. (shrink)

The present study used quantitative and qualitative measures to examine Iranian applied linguists’ (mis-) conceptions of ethical issues in research. For this purpose, one hundred and twelve applied linguists completed a research ethics questionnaire constructed and validated by the researchers. In the follow-up qualitative phase, 15 applied linguists who were faculty members participated in semi-instructed interviews. Data were analyzed using exploratory factors analyses for the first phase and theme analyses for the second phase. Quantitative results showed that the most important (...) misconceptions among Iranian applied linguists lingered on working with data (data collection and data analyses). For example, removing an outlier was a prevalent act conducted by applied linguists in the present study. Teachers using their students as participants of their own research as well as how they treated those students after a study were other controversial issues. The qualitative results revealed several themes including lack of knowledge, conflict with real-world practices, a product-oriented approach to education and a publish or perish mentality as the reasons for misconceptions of ethics in applied linguistics among Iranian researchers. On general terms, there was an implicit agreement regarding the lack of training on research ethics among Iranian applied linguists. (shrink)

Abstractabstract:The present article examines the utopian and theological politics of the Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʾ (Brethren of Purity). I focus on the Ikhwān’s elusive “virtuous city,” a harmonious and righteous community situated on a wondrous island, where residents work in unison toward salvation by deferring to one creed. This city’s imagery is intimately tied to principal theological dimensions of their work. Through the virtuous city, the Ikhwān utilize the imagery of estrangement to elucidate their theological position on the soul’s imprisonment in the (...) body. But there is another, subtler dimension to their utopianism. I argue that the Ikhwānian utopia serves as a juxtaposition to their Muslim society, which they thought was afflicted by credal divisions. Accordingly, their utopia seam-lessly weaves together a synthetic narrative about eschatology (i.e., the afterlife) and an empirical critique of their contemporary society. Additionally, this paper contributes to the development of scholarship on medieval Islamic utopianism. (shrink)

In graph theory, the concept of domination is essential in a variety of domains. It has broad applications in diverse fields such as coding theory, computer net work models, and school bus routing and facility lo cation problems. If a fuzzy graph fails to obtain acceptable results, neutrosophic sets and neutrosophic graphs can be used to model uncertainty correlated with indeterminate and inconsistent information in arbitrary real-world scenario. In this study, we consider the concept of domination as it relates to (...) single-valued neutrosophic incidence graphs (SVNIGs). Given the importance of domination and its utilization in numerous fields, we propose the application of dominating sets in SVNIG with valid edges. We present some relevant definitions such as those of valid edges, cardinality, and isolated vertices in SVNIG along with some examples. Furthermore, we also show a few significant sets connected to the dominating set in an SVNIG such as independent and irredundant sets. We also investigate a relationship between the concepts of dominating sets and domination numbers as well as irredundant and independence sets in SVNIGs. Finally, a real-life deployment of domination in SVNIGsis investigated in relation to COVID-19 vaccination locations as a practical application. (shrink)

La "technologie" est au coeur de notre vie sans que souvent nous en ayons conscience. D'où la question de l'unité de cette technologie à travers de multiples disciplines. C'est à cette interrogation que tentent de répondre les échanges internationaux organisés par l'Université libano-française de Tripoli. Trois notions-clefs sont au coeur du débat : la reconnaissance de la sphère technique dans la culture ; l'existence de mécanismes de classification et normalisation d'un savoir et d'un langage spécifique grâce à la culture et (...) la validité d'un modèle "mondialiste" ou systématique contemporain. On s'interroge sur le Sens des parts mécanique, théorique et pratique de notre civilisation ainsi que sur les moyens dont elle dispose pour créer une nouveauté qui préserve les intérêts de tous. Tel est l'objet de cet ouvrage : aider un individu aujourd'hui et demain à mieux s'adapter à cet ordre "technologique" dont les implications culturelles sont immenses, abordées ici sans préjugés, de manière plurielle, rationnelle et démocratique. (shrink)

This study investigates whether financial performance is affected by corporate violations of laws and regulations. In a sample of 128 publicly traded banks that were subject to enforcement actions by US regulatory authorities over a 20-year period, we observed a significant negative market reaction pursuant to the violations. However, the market reaction did not vary meaningfully in accordance with the severity or repetitiveness of the violation. The results of this study are in conformity with previous research on industries other than (...) banking, notably with regard to negative market reaction. This confirms that shareholders in the banking industry react in a manner considerably similar to their counterparts in other industries. (shrink)

Islamic political thought has long been concerned with the abuses of tyranny. To contemporary Islamists, the tyrant is the ruler who adopts foreign ideas opposed to the original values of Islam. This sentiment is sometimes coupled with calls for revolutionary violence, a view popularized by the Egyptian Islamist Sayyid Qutb.1 While to some modern Islamists tyrannical rule signifies encroaching Western hegemony, its premodern use was less geographically specific. The Prophet Muhammad had simply stipulated that the "best struggle is a word (...) of truth [spoken] to a tyrannical [or unjust] ruler".2 This maxim alone does not describe the tyrant's cultural and religious... (shrink)

Business Ethics, the Environment & Responsibility, Volume 31, Issue 2, Page 398-418, April 2022.

The corona pandemic altered many traditional and historical norms of society and law. COVID-19 created a humanitarian crisis in some parts of globe, while pandemic privacy and civil liberties were under threat all over world. To combat the deadly virus, individual liberty and equality were compromised. This paper focuses on how India’s health problem has compromised people’s right to privacy. It will highlight how strict executive policies led to the creation of a massive surveillance system in the name of combating (...) the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as how the absence of any policy or legal framework led to the exclusion of individuals and their families who were suspected of having the virus or caring for those who were infected with the deadly virus. The paper uses case studies and data collected from primary as well as secondary sources. The authors will also point out how the absence of privacy regulation puts millions of citizens’ private information at risk of being compromised or exploited against their will. (shrink)

In this article, we propose an initial formal model of computationalism based on mathematical relations between cognition and computation. More specifically, based on a set of cognitive constituents as a domain, and a set of computational implementations as a range, we define two relations of transformation over these sets. Moreover, we define the principles of implementability, describability, and phenomena correspondence, and we conjecture that full computationalism does not hold since these principles are not fulfilled. Particularly, many cognitively-tied phenomena fail to (...) respect the describability principle which is necessary for representing a cognitive state by a computational state. (shrink)

This article examines ḥikma as it was practiced by Ṣadr al-Dīn Shīrāzī, or Mullā Ṣadrā (d. 1640), in explaining the connection between the divine names and the attributes of God. This is done via a translation of the fourth part of his al-Maẓāhir al-ilāhiyya fī asrār al-ʿulūm al-kamāliyya [The loci of divine manifestations in the secrets of the knowledge of perfection]. Ḥikma, philosophy, as it is defined here, is the combination of rational demonstrations and spiritual unveiling. Shīrāzī’s philosophy is a (...) synthesis of Ibn ʿArabī’s school of metaphysical unveiling, the Ishrāqī school led by Suhrawardī, and the rational school of the Peripatetics. The text is translated here for the first time, and includes annotations. (shrink)

This article examines ḥikma as it was practiced by Ṣadr al-Dīn Shīrāzī, or Mullā Ṣadrā (d. 1640), in explaining the connection between the divine names and the attributes of God. This is done via a translation of the fourth part of his al-Maẓāhir al-ilāhiyya fī asrār al-ʿulūm al-kamāliyya [The loci of divine manifestations in the secrets of the knowledge of perfection]. Ḥikma, philosophy, as it is defined here, is the combination of rational demonstrations and spiritual unveiling. Shīrāzī’s philosophy is a (...) synthesis of Ibn ʿArabī’s school of metaphysical unveiling, the Ishrāqī school led by Suhrawardī, and the rational school of the Peripatetics. The text is translated here for the first time, and includes annotations. (shrink)

This paper aims to provide insights into the Malaysian newspaper reports on apostasy cases in the country. Being a Muslim country with multi-religions, apostasy is highly sensitive hence any issues related to apostasy need to be carefully managed. Four keywords were used to identify newspaper reports for the analysis. Two newspaper reports met the selection criteria and were analysed using a discourse analysis approach focusing on Grammatical Analysis, Macrostructures, and Rhetorical Structures. The analysis reveals that the report in New Straits (...) Times, which is the right-wing newspaper, carries the voice of anti-apostate and disapproves the act of renouncing Islam. On the other hand, the report in The Malay Mail, which is the left-wing newspaper, carries the voice of pro-apostate. By deconstructing the newspaper reports, this paper contributes to the understanding of the agendas that have been subtly set in the news. This paper concludes that the two reports have been strategically constructed to serve the interests and promote the ideology of the two competing groups in the country, thus creating a balance in the multi-religious context. (shrink)

ABSTRACT Malaysia’s 13th general election in 2013 was the final election where the longest-serving elected government in the world, Barisan Nasional, regained power, before it was ousted after over six decades of authoritarian rule in 2018. In a country that practises parliamentary democracy but simultaneously observed close cooperation between the then ruling coalition and the mainstream press, this paper shows the micro-politics of the driving force of the coalition, United Malays National Organisation – specifically, how anxiety regarding the maintenance of (...) their privileged and empowered Malay position dominated the national narrative during the GE13 campaign. Focusing on editorial journalistic genres in four paid-for Malay-language newspapers, I illustrate the typical politics of fear that characterises much of Malaysian right-wing rhetoric – the ways in which racial and religion issues are provoked. The in-depth representational analysis, via the Discourse-historical Approach’s nomination and predication strategies, also suggests the normalisation of nationalistic and racist rhetoric, which primarily works with ‘fear’: fear of change, of loss of privilege, of the future, of other races; in principle, almost anything can be constructed as a threat to ‘Us’, an imagined homogenous people inside a well-protected territory through the discursive construction of such in-groups and out-groups. (shrink)

The paper investigates the moderating effect of CEO race on the relationship between CEO masculinity and company performance. The sample includes 260 companies listed on the Bursa Malaysia for the period from 2009 to 2019. Data extracted for 405 unique CEOs from different races (Malay, Chinese, Indian, and others). The paper uses two indicators of CEO masculinity, facial width-to-height ratio (fWHR) and testosterone level (Tsh). The fWHR of CEOs is measured using artificial intelligence (Python code/c). In addition, a contemporary model (...) is applied to estimate Tsh based on face measures and CEO age. The results indicate that CEO race moderates the relationship between masculinity and company performance. The findings reveal that high masculinity is positively associated with company performance only among the non-Bumiputera group, however, there is no significant evidence among the Bumiputera group. This study uniquely links CEO characteristics and financial performance with neuro finance and biological aspects. Therefore, this study offers novel contributions to literature and implications for investors, board members, policymakers, and academicians. (shrink)

The main objective of this paper was to examine the involuntary nature of music-evoked autobiographical memories. For this purpose, young adults, older adults, and patients with a clinical diagnosis of probable Alzheimer’s disease were asked to remember autobiographical events in two conditions: after being exposed to their own chosen music, and in silence. Compared to memories evoked in silence, memories evoked in the “Music” condition were found to be more specific, accompanied by more emotional content and impact on mood, and (...) retrieved faster. In addition, these memories engaged less executive processes. Thus, with all these characteristics and the fact that they are activated by a perceptual cue , music-evoked autobiographic memories have all the features to be considered as involuntary memories. Our paper reveals several characteristics of music-evoked autobiographical memories in AD patients and offers a theoretical background for this phenomenon. (shrink)

A number of advocates for TQM contend that firms who embrace TQM will automatically and naturally act in ethically sound ways (Roth, 1993; Pace, 1999; Steeples, 1994). This claim is a strong one. This paper assesses its truth. We consider the many ways in which quality initiatives, if undertaken in good faith, can foster sound ethics. We explore the various ways in which TQM presupposes, and thus cannot engender, ethical behavior. And, finally, we identify some of the ethical blind spots (...) in quality initiatives and TQM. We propose that if TQM is undertaken by thoughtful people who take steps to correct its ethical blind spots and who understand the need for an ethical underpinning, then TQM and ethics will prove mutually reinforcing. (shrink)

In this study, we discuss the colonial project as an eliminatory structure of indigenous ways of knowing and doing that is built into Canadian social and health institutions. We elaborate on the role nursing plays in maintaining systemic racism, marginalization and discrimination of Indigenous Peoples. Based on historical practices and present‐day circumstances, we argue that changing language in research and school curriculums turns decolonization into what Tuck and Yang call a ‘metaphor’. Rather, we propose decolonization as a political project where (...) nurses acknowledge their involvement in colonial harms and disrupt the assumptions that continue to shape how nurses interact with Indigenous people, including knowledge systems that perpetuate colonial interests and privilege. Decolonization requires nurses to understand the colonial practices that led to dispossession of land, erasure of knowledge, culture and identity, while upholding indigenous ways of knowing and doing in health, healing and living. As a political manifesto that liberates indigenous life from oppressive structures of colonialism and capitalism, The Red Deal is presented as a visionary platform for decolonization. The aim of this study is to articulate three dimensions of caretaking within The Red Deal as a framework to decolonize nursing knowledge development and practice. Based on the philosophical dimension embedded in The Red Deal that revoke norms and knowledge assumptions of capitalism that destroy indigenous ways of knowing and doing, we underscore an approach toward decolonizing nursing. Our approach rejects the apolitical nature of nursing as well as the unilateral western scientific knowledge approach to knowledge development and recognition. A critical emancipatory approach that addresses the socio‐political and historical context of health care, recognizes dispossession of land and adopts a ‘multilogical’ vision of knowledge that gives space for representation and voice is needed for true decolonization of nursing. (shrink)

Emotion has a substantial influence on the cognitive processes in humans, including perception, attention, learning, memory, reasoning, and problem solving. Emotion has a particularly strong influence on attention, especially modulating the selectivity of attention as well as motivating action and behavior. This attentional and executive control is intimately linked to learning processes, as intrinsically limited attentional capacities are better focused on relevant information. Emotion also facilitates encoding and helps retrieval of information efficiently. However, the effects of emotion on learning and (...) memory are not always univalent, as studies have reported that emotion either enhances or impairs learning and long-term memory retention, depending on a range of factors. Recent neuroimaging findings have indicated that the amygdala and prefrontal cortex cooperate with the medial temporal lobe in an integrated manner that affords (i) the amygdala modulating memory consolidation; (ii) the prefrontal cortex mediating memory encoding and formation; and (iii) the hippocampus for successful learning and long-term memory retention. We also review the nested hierarchies of circular emotional control and cognitive regulation (bottom-up and top-down influences) within the brain to achieve optimal integration of emotional and cognitive processing. This review highlights a basic evolutionary approach to emotion to understand the effects of emotion on learning and memory and the functional roles played by various brain regions and their mutual interactions in relation to emotional processing. We also summarize the current state of knowledge on the impact of emotion on memory and map implications for educational settings. In addition to elucidating the memory-enhancing effects of emotion, neuroimaging findings extend our understanding of emotional influences on learning and memory processes; this knowledge may be useful for the design of effective educational curricula to provide a conducive learning environment for both traditional “live” learning in classrooms and “virtual” learning through online-based educational technologies. (shrink)

By following the arguments developed by Vygotsky and employing the cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) in addition to dialectical logic, this paper attempts to investigate the interaction between psychology and artificial intelligence (AI) to confront the epistemological and methodological challenges encountered in AI research. The paper proposes that AI is facing an epistemological and methodological crisis inherited from psychology based on dualist ontology. The roots of this crisis lie in the duality between rationalism and objectivism or in the mind-body rupture that (...) has governed the production of scientific thought and the proliferation of approaches. In addition, by highlighting the sociohistorical conditions of AI, this paper investigates the historical characteristics of the shift of the crisis from psychology to AI. Additionally, we examine the epistemological and methodological roots of the main challenges encountered in AI research by noting that empiricism is the dominant tendency in the field. Empiricism gives rise to methodological and practical challenges, including challenges related to the emergence of meaning, abstraction, generalization, the emergence of symbols, concept formation, functional reflection of reality, and the emergence of higher psychological functions. Furthermore, through discussing attempts to formalize dialectical logic, the paper, based on contradiction formation, proposes a qualitative epistemological, methodological, and formal alternative by using a preliminary algorithmic model that grasps the formation of meaning as an essential ability for the qualitative reflection of reality and the emergence of other mental functions. (shrink)

Building on the modified theory of planned behavior (TPB), this study examined the underlying psychological motives for academic dishonesty in a sample of 250 undergraduates drawn from three selected Malaysian public universities. The results yielded additional supports for usefulness of modified TPB model in predicting academic misconduct. All components of the model exerted statistically significant effects on intention towards academic misconduct, and intention itself exerted a statistically significant impact on academic dishonesty. This suggests that students’ academic misconducts could be addressed (...) effectively if proper attention is given to the underpinning factors. Further, the findings revealed that the hypothesized relationships among variables of the modified model were all statistically significant. The uniqueness of this study lies in the large amount of variance (69 % and 75 %) explained by components of the model (in the prediction of intention and academic dishonesty respectively). These variances have rarely been accounted for in the previous studies. Implications of the findings are discussed and suggestions advanced for future studies. (shrink)

Although healthcare workers play a crucial role in helping curb the hazardous health impact of coronavirus disease 2019, their lives and major functioning have been greatly affected by the pandemic. This study examined the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the quality of life of Malaysian healthcare workers and its predictive factors. An online sample of 389 university-based healthcare workers completed questionnaires on demographics, clinical features, COVID-19-related stressors, psychological experiences, and perceived social support after the movement lockdown was lifted. All (...) domains of QoL were within the norms of the general population except for social relationship QoL, which was lower than the norm. Multiple linear regression analysis indicated that COVID-19-related stressors and psychological sequelae predicted lower QoL. Conversely, greater perceived social support from friends and significant others predicted higher QoL. Clinical and demographic characteristics predicted QoL to a lesser extent: A history of pre-existing medical illness was associated only with lower physical health QoL, whereas older age and being single, divorced, or widowed were only predictive of higher environmental QoL. Efforts to enhance QoL among healthcare workers in response to the pandemic should focus on mitigating COVID-19-related stressors and psychological sequelae and facilitating social support. (shrink)

This study concerned validating academic integrity survey, a measure developed in 2010 to investigate academic integrity practices in a Malaysian university. It also examined the usefulness of the measure across gender and nationality of the participants. The sample size comprised 450 students selected via quota sampling technique. The findings supported the multidimensionality of academic dishonesty. Also, strong evidence of convergent and discriminant validity, and construct reliability were generated for the revised AIS. The testing of moderating effects yielded two outcomes. While (...) the gender invariant analysis produced evidence that the three-dimensional model was not moderated by gender; the nationality effect was inconclusive, probably due to a noticeable imbalance in respondent distribution for the nationality group. The significance of this study lies not only in the rigorous statistical methods deployed to validate the dimension and psychometric properties of the AIS; but establishing the gender invariance of the model. It is understood from the findings that although male and female students may vary in their academic misconducts, the underlying factors for these conducts are the same and can be addressed effectively using a non-discriminating approach. (shrink)

The most recent global refugee figures are staggering, with over 82.4 million people forcibly displaced and 26.4 million registered refugees. The ongoing conflict in Syria is a major contributor. After a decade of violence and destabilization, over 13.4million Syrians have been displaced, including 6.7 million internally displaced persons and 6.7 million refugees registered in other countries. Beyond the immediate political and economic challenges, an essential component of any response to this humanitarian crisis must be health-related, including policies and interventions specific (...) to mental health. This policy and practice review addresses refugee mental health in the context of the Syrian crisis, providing an update and overview of the current situation while exploring new initiatives in mental health research and global health policy that can help strengthen and expand services. Relevant global health policy frameworks are first briefly introduced, followed by a short summary of recent research on refugee mental health. We then provide an update on the current status of research, service provision, and health policy in the leading destinations for Syrians who have been forcibly displaced. This starts within Syria and then turns to Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, and Germany. Finally, several general recommendations are discussed, including the pressing need for more data at each phase of migration, the expansion of integrated mental health services, and the explicit inclusion and prioritization of refugee mental health in national and global health policy. (shrink)

The Cold War has affected the communities around the world. Malaysia was no exception in being affected by the turmoil the international world, particularly after the World War 2, due to ideological conflicts. Based on the domino theory, the ups and downs of particular country in terms of its, strong ideology, brings about network impacts to each country in the world. Thus, a freedom of Malaya and the establishment of Malaysia came from the history of Cold War which influenced the (...) international scene. The establishment of Malaysia is seen as a mechanism to stop the influence of communism. The involvement leaders from Malaya, Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak as well as Brunei Darussalam in the agenda to ‘build’ Malaysia with the approval from democratic countries showed a very strong cooperation that communism was a threat. This contributed to the creation of a new and bigger country. The wise Malaysian leaders in negotiating and being united in facing the global threats at that time, has shown that Malaysia’s ‘project’ in stopping the communist theory which is also known domino theory, was successfully carried out and maintained till today. Therefore, Malaysia as a case study, on how a country was ‘built’ on the basis of stopping the spread of communism in saving the Southeast Asia from falling into the hands of communists, is unique and its effectiveness should be studied. (shrink)

There is a divide within political and legal theory concerning the justification of hate-crime legislation in liberal states. Opponents of Hate-Crime Legislation have recently argued that enhanced punishment for hate-motivated crimes cannot be justified within political liberal states. More specifically, Heidi Hurd argues that criminal sanction which target character dispositions unfairly target individuals for characteristics not readily under their control. She further argues that a ‘character’ based approach in criminal law is necessarily illiberal and violates the state’s commitment to political (...) neutrality. In the current paper, I attempt to show the difficulties and absurdity that follows from Hurd’s characterization of hate- rimes. I aim to show that punishment for undesirable character traits is consistent with western conceptions of criminal law. Upon doing so, I then go on to construct a positive argument for the justifiability of punishing for character traits as well as for the enhanced punishment associated with hate-motivated crimes. (shrink)

The music and social bonding hypothesis proposes that human musicality has evolved as mechanisms supporting social bonding. We consider the MSB hypothesis under the lens of amnesia by arguing how patients with amnesia, especially those with Alzheimer's disease, can benefit from music, not only to retrieve personal memories, but also to use them for social bonding.

Publication date: 11 June 2018 Source: Author: Fatemeh Nemati Sogolitappeh, Amjad Hedayat, Mehrdad Rezaee Arjmand, Mohamad Khaledian The purpose of the present study is to investigate the relationship between spiritual intelligence and emotional intelligence with resilience in undergraduate students. The population of the study included all students of Payam Noor University in Ghorveh during 2016-2017 academic years. According to the principles of statistical methodology for correlational studies, 100 students from different disciplines were selected as sample of the study using (...) simple random sampling method. In this research, King's Spiritual Intelligence Questionnaire, Bar-Ann 90-questions Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire, and Conner and Davison resilience questionnaire were used. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. The results of this study showed that there is a significant positive correlation between spiritual intelligence and emotional intelligence and resilience. Regression coefficients showed that spiritual intelligence and emotional intelligence predict 53.9% of the variation in resiliency. (shrink)

Background The perception of organ donation and brain death among Syrian population has not been previously explored. The goal of this study is to evaluate the attitude and knowledge of organ donation among Syrians and the willingness of this population to donate their organs. Methods We conducted a survey-based cross-sectional study in four hospitals in Aleppo, Syria in November 2019. Patient demographic, awareness of brain death; and attitude toward organ donation were collected and analyzed. Results A total of 350 individuals (...) were invited to participate in the survey among whom 303 agreed to participate in the study. The majority of our participants heard about organ donation with television, social media, and the internet being the most common sources of information. When assessing knowledge about brain death, only 40% answered 3 or more questions correctly. Fifty-eight percent of respondents agreed with the idea of organ donation and 183 would like to donate their organs one day. The leading motivation to organ donation was the desire to help, while the most common reason to refuse donation was the refusal to disfigure a dead body by removing an organ. Religious reasons were cited as motivation for organ donation by 43% of participants, and a reason for refusing to donate organs by 24%. Most respondents were unaware of the laws and legislations related to organ donation in Syria. When asked if religion and law were encouraging organ donation, 76% of respondents would donate their organs. Although more positive attitude was found in those with better brain death knowledge, this did not translate into more willingness to donate organs in this group of participants. Conclusions The promotion of organ donations from deceased donors is a necessity given the rising shortage of organs. The information provided by this study could help policy makers build future strategies to promote deceased organ donation programs and overcome current obstacles preventing such initiatives from achieving their goals. (shrink)

The relationship between Islam with a democratic political systemhas been questionable at best and incompatible at worst. While countlessresearch has been done on this issue for decades especially with the rise ofIslamist apologists in the years following the invasion of Iraq in 2003, thispaper proposes that it is time we understand the role of Islam through the lensesof democrat Muslims. Democrat Muslims are those who seek to preserve andpromote the five major qualities in human life with values that surpass simplyprotecting (...) the people’s political, social and economic life. By comparingRashid al-Ghannouchi and Anwar Ibrahim, this paper traces their evolution tocome to a similar conclusion that is applicable to most Muslim societies. Usingthe dissonant politics theory, this paper suggests that local developments weretaken into high consideration when these two figures decided to conceptualizewhat is known today as Democrat Muslims. (shrink)

The examination of power, space, and identity formation within diasporic literature has garnered significant attention due to the escalating global mobility of migrants across the world. This article studies the complex integration of spatial hierarchy, civil violence, and gendered responses to power representations in Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel, The Lowland (2013). We utilise Henri Lefebvre’s theories to dissect the spatial dynamics of the novel across three dimensions: representations of space and conceived space, spatial practice and perceived space, and representational space and (...) lived space. Lefebvre’s framework is instrumental in understanding how physical and conceptual spaces can simultaneously serve as tools for domination and sites for transformative resistance. The novel weaves distinct spatial realms, such as the exclusive Tolly Club and the diminishing lowland, to symbolise postcolonialism and state control. The findings highlight how conceived space is portrayed as a postcolonial realm marked by violence and gendered spatial injustice, reflecting male dominance and societal norms that suppress female subjectivity. However, the study also reveals that this conformity is not static but showcases the agency of female characters like Gauri and Bijoli in resisting and renegotiating spatial constraints. (shrink)

Background:To provide care with high quality, nurses face a number of moral issues requiring them to have moral abilities in professional performance. Moral sensitivity is the first step in moral performance. However, its relation to the quality of care patients receive is controversial.Research objective:This study aims to determine the relationship between the moral sensitivity of nurses and the quality of care received by patients in the medical wards.Research design:A descriptive correlational study using validated tools, including Moral Sensitivity Questionnaire and the (...) Quality Patient Quality Scale.Participants and research context:In total, 198 nurses and 198 patients in 17 medical wards of hospitals affiliated with Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Iran.Ethical considerations:The study was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences.Findings:The mean values of nurses’ moral sensitivity and nurses’ quality care were 136.47 ± 13.30 and 196.36 ± 44.10, respectively. There was no significant relationship between the patient care quality and nurses’ moral sensitivity ( r = −.14, p =.5). However, there was a significant inverse relationship between the dimension of “Experiencing moral conflicts” and the overall score of quality care ( r = −.50, p =.04), the dimensions of “psychosocial ( r = −.50, p =.04)” and “physical ( r = −.50, p =.03).”Conclusion:Considering the significant inverse relationship between the score of patient quality care and the dimension of moral conflict experience, it seems when nurses make moral decisions, they experience a conflict between personal and professional values in their careers and thus experience moral tension. If this tension is not resolved properly, it can provide a way for them to distance themselves from patients, thereby making nurses indifferent to moral care. (shrink)

The continuum between involuntary autobiographical memories and déjà vu, as proposed by Barzykowski and Moulin, can be better defined by considering research on autobiographical retrieval in patients with Alzheimer's disease. Although autobiographical retrieval in patients with Alzheimer's disease can generally be associated with a sense of familiarity, involuntary retrieval can trigger an autonoetic experience of retrieval in these patients.

Sport is viewed as a multidimensional phenomenon. Most countries,including Muslim nations, invest heavily in sports to ensure the participationof their citizens both for recreational and competitive purposes. Indeed, theinvolvement of Muslim countries in significant multi-sport events such as theCommonwealth, the Asian, and the Olympic Games are inevitable. Therefore,a proper projection should be given to Muslim athletes as their participationreflects the identity and culture of Muslim civilizations. To date, the issue ofMuslim athlete’s involvement in sports from the notion of Islamization hasyet (...) to be elucidated by any scholar. This paper aims to scrutinize the sportssociology as an academic discipline in the Muslim majority society context.It also views the philosophy of sports participation and the dilemma facedby Muslims in sports under the light of al- Qur’ān, and Hadith. In obtainingrelevant information for this paper, we employed qualitative content analysisfrom various literature. In conclusion, this discourse of sport, Islam, and society has potentially triggered the new social movement that accommodated the needs of the Muslim community towards sports participation and physical activity. (shrink)

Emotion-based sentimental analysis has recently received a lot of interest, with an emphasis on automated identification of user behavior, such as emotional expressions, based on online social media texts. However, the majority of the prior attempts are based on traditional procedures that are insufficient to provide promising outcomes. In this study, we categorize emotional sentiments by recognizing them in the text. For that purpose, we present a deep learning model, bidirectional long-term short-term memory, for emotion recognition that takes into account (...) five main emotions. We use our experimental assessments on the emotion dataset to accomplish the emotion categorization job. The datasets were evaluated and the findings revealed that, when compared to state-of-the-art methodologies, the proposed model can successfully categorize user emotions into several classifications. Finally, we assess the efficacy of our strategy using statistical analysis. This research’s findings help firms to apply best practices in the selection, management, and optimization of policies, services, and product information. (shrink)

Despite head and neck cancer association with various negative impacts, collective evidence is accumulating regarding the positive impacts of positive psychology on cancer survivors. However, data on how positive psychology is related to the psychological complications of HNC across time are lacking. This longitudinal study examined the trends of positive psychology, perceived spousal support, and psychological complications and determined the association between them, psychological complications, and PTG across two timelines among a cohort of HNC patients. A total of 175 HNC (...) respondents exhibited an increasing trend of positive psychology and perceived spousal support while reporting a decreasing trend of psychological complications between baseline and follow-up assessments. A greater degree of hope and perceived spousal support contributed to a higher degree of PTG across time. Conversely, a higher severity of anxiety symptoms was associated with a lower degree of PTG over time. Female gender had a moderating effect on the association between severity of anxiety symptoms and PTG, but did not moderate the association between hope, perceived spousal support and PTG. This study indicates the pivotal role of incorporating psychosocial interventions into the treatment regimen to enhance the degree of hope and perceived spousal support and reduce the severity of anxiety symptoms, which, in turn, will facilitate the development of PTG in HNC patients. (shrink)

Credible and well-functioning governance is crucial for the value creation of firms. Recently, private sectors have undergone substantial changes by focusing on good governance as a tool to enhance value, reputation, and image. The primary features of firms with good governance include greater emphasis on accountability practices, proper implementation of a corporate integrity system, and sound internal controls in place to avoid risk and to ensure policy and procedures that are complied. Government linked companies (GLCs) as the backbone of the (...) Malaysian Government have been harshly criticised for not being able to create value(s) despite receiving high priority in the process of getting government projects. Therefore, this study aims to examine the role of good governance systems, which are reflected through accountability systems, corporate integrity systems, and internal control systems towards value creation of Malaysian GLCs. This study collected primary data based on a set of questionnaire survey among 100 GLCs in Malaysia. Based on the regression analysis, this study found that corporate integrity systems and internal control systems were vital elements in ensuring value creation in GLCs. (shrink)

BackgroundClinical genomic professionals are increasingly facing decisions about returning incidental findings (IFs) from genetic research. Although previous studies have shown that research participants are interested in receiving IFs, yet there has been an argument about the extent of researcher obligation to return IFs. We aimed in this study to explore the perspectives of clinical genomics professionals toward returning incidental findings from genomic research.MethodsWe conducted a national survey of a sample (n = 113) of clinical genomic professionals using a convenient sampling. (...) A self-administered questionnaire was used to explore their attitudes toward disclosure of IFs, their perception of the duties to return IFs and identifying the barriers for disclosure of IFs. A descriptive analysis was employed to describe participants' responses.ResultsSixty-five (57.5%) respondents had faced IFs in their practice and 31 (27.4%) were not comfortable in discussing IFs with their research subjects. Less than one-third of the respondents reported the availability of guidelines governing IFs. The majority 84 (80%) and 69 (62.7%) of the study participants indicated they would return the IFs if the risk of disease threat ≥ 50% and 6–49%, respectively and 36 (31.9%) reported they have no obligation to return IFs.ConclusionClinical genomics professionals have positive attitudes and perceptions toward the returning IFs from genomic research, yet some revealed no duty to do so. Detailed guidelines must be established to provide insights into how genomics professionals should be handled IFs. (shrink)

Working memory is developed in one region of the brain called the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. The dysfunction of this region leads to synaptic neuroplasticity impairment. It has been reported that several biochemical parameters and anthropometric measurements play a vital role in cognition and brain health. This study aimed to investigate the relationships between cognitive function, serum biochemical profile, and anthropometric measurements using DLPFC activation. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 35 older adults who experienced mild cognitive impairment. For this purpose, (...) we distributed a comprehensive interview-based questionnaire for collecting sociodemographic information from the participants and conducting cognitive tests. Anthropometric values were measured, and fasting blood specimens were collected. We investigated their brain activation using the task-based functional MRI, specifically in the DLPFC region. Positive relationships were observed between brain-derived neurotrophic factor and Mini-Mental State Examination ; however, negative relationships were observed between serum triglyceride and serum malondialdehyde with right DLPFC activation while the participants performed 1-back task after adjustments for age, gender, and years of education. In conclusion, higher serum triglycerides, higher oxidative stress, and lower neurotrophic factor were associated with lower right DLPFC activation among older adults with MCI. A further investigation needs to be carried out to understand the causal-effect mechanisms of the significant parameters and the DLPFC activation so that better intervention strategies can be developed for reducing the risk of irreversible neurodegenerative diseases among older adults with MCI. (shrink)

The article deals with the main ideas of the political philosophy of Abu Abdallah Ibn al-Azraq al-Garnati (1427-1491), a well-known Muslim statesman, supreme judge of Granada, lawyer, diplomat, supporter of Arab Muslim peripatetism, a student of the outstanding thinker of the Muslim Middle Ages Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406). In the history of the political philosophy of the Muslim East, a number of major transformations in the development of the Arab Caliphate from the Medina state of the prophet to the Sultanate in (...) the Abbasid period should be noted, which were reflected in the development of the theory of the Arab-Muslim state (caliphate). The main problem of the theory of the caliphate was connected with the question of the relationship between power and authority in the context of the moral foundations of the state. The creative heritage of Ibn al-Azraq is mainly known for his work in the genre of adab ("mirrors of princes") “Miracles on the way, or the Nature of dominion”. The treatise became a classic of the political philosophy of the Muslim Middle Ages, in which, under the influence of Aristotelian ideas, a special place was given to the moral foundations of power and the state, that is, ethics was considered as a political science. In the form of instructive parables, the rulers and heirs to the throne were explained the basics of state administration as part of their studies and education. His doctrine of the virtues can be viewed as ethical rationalism with a belief in the moral perfection of people in power and subjects of the state. Since morals are largely acquired and a person can control them, the task of purifying his own morals and curing them is entrusted to him. In addition, accordingly, it is possible and necessary to cultivate virtues in rulers, since the well-being of the state and the ummah depends on their morals. The moral foundations of power determine the strength of political authority. (shrink)

The body of the deceased is not an object but still a person. It deserves to be treated respectfully, and often this respect is expressed through religious rites. However, problems arise when the family of the deceased follow different faiths and disagree over the burial rite. Such a scenario is examined in this study where the immediate family of the deceased professed different faiths and could not agree on the burial rites to be performed. This research is intended to examine (...) the issue of burial rights as a reason for interfaith conflict. Who has the right to prepare the body of the deceased for the burial? Which rites should be followed? Using the theological and legal approaches, we found that the conflict was caused by (1) belief in an afterlife and (2) law, culture and religion give the right to decide the burial or disposal of the body to living parties. The legitimate way to determine how to treat the body of the deceased and according to which religious rite the burial is to be performed is by confirming the religious identity of the deceased as stated in the legal document. In other words, the burial rites to be followed by the family of the deceased depend on the proven religious identity of the deceased, whether Christian or Muslim. Contribution: This article attempts to justify the right of the deceased to be buried according to their personal faith, which may not be identical with the faith practised and professed by their family. In cases of religious conversion, both parties claim their right to bury the deceased according to their own religious rites, and it is often difficult for both sides to reach an agreement. Nevertheless, this conflict can be resolved peacefully if the rights of the deceased are respected by the bereaved. (shrink)

Essays on linguistics in Malaysia; festschrift in honor of Asmah Haji Omar, a doctor in linguistics at Universiti Malaya.