The primary aim of this study is to clarify the authorship trends, collaboration patterns, and impact factors in business ethics literature by looking at articles published between 1960 and 2015 in four leading business ethics journals: Business and Society, Business Ethics: A European Review, Business Ethics Quarterly, and the Journal of Business Ethics. This study showed the growth type of business ethics literature, authorship trends, collaboration patterns, authors' productivity evolved by subperiods and journals, and authors' dominance factor by subperiods and (...) journals. After providing an evaluation of the results of the study, the authors discuss the study's limitations and suggestions for future research. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reviewed by:Modernity as Apocalypse: Sacred Nihilism and the Counterfeits of Logos by Thaddeus J. KozinskiMehmet CiftciModernity as Apocalypse: Sacred Nihilism and the Counterfeits of Logos by Thaddeus J. Kozinski (Brooklyn, NY: Angelico, 2019), 231 pp.Whether the names Adrian Vermeule, Fr. Edmund Waldstein, and Sohrab Ahmari provoke anxiety or glee in readers' minds will depend on where they stand on integralism, the brand of Catholic traditionalism that all three have (...) sought to promote through various websites and publications. Presenting themselves as the authentic interpreters of magisterial teachings on church–state relations, the integralists have challenged the long-standing attempt (especially in North America) to combine the Catholic faith with a commitment to political liberalism, natural rights, religious liberty, and state neutrality toward religion. For the integralists, attempting such a combination succeeds only in distorting the Catholic faith and causes us to forget what the Church taught before the Second Vatican Council, which still obliges the assent of Catholics, they claim, and is desperately needed to stand against the onward march of secularism. [End Page 966]Although Thaddeus Kozinski, former professor at Wyoming Catholic College, may not be one of the more well-known integralists, his latest book presents an interesting iteration of Catholic traditionalism that displays both what is valuable and what is most worrying about contemporary traditionalism. Kozinski's previous book was a closely argued critique of John Rawls and Jacques Maritain using the thought of Alasdair MacIntyre. It built up a cumulative case for the impossibility of resolving the political problem of religious pluralism without moving beyond philosophy by making a decision to reject or accept the political importance of the Catholic Church and its teachings.1 Although the author's preference for some sort of confessional state was already clear in that book, he preferred not to defend it, but rather to argue that it is impossible to be agnostic or neutral toward the ideal of church–state union. Now he goes on the offensive, presenting in the twenty brief chapters of Modernity as Apocalypse his "sundry attempts over the past decade to grapple with the question of modernity" (14). More precisely, he is grappling with the questions of what defines modernity, how we arrived at where we are, and what Christians should do while living in it, particularly in the fields of education and politics.The two chapters that form the first part (entitled "Modernity") use Charles Taylor's A Secular Age to argue that modernity's increasingly pluralistic and secular culture creates "an entirely new incapacity to experience the reality of a particular worldview in a naïve way, that is, without the consciousness of there being other viable options" (37). Yet the problem also reveals a blessing. "Encountering reality through the lens of other perennial traditions can serve to expose that false dichotomy in our minds that leads us to interpret other views as nothing more than full-fledged errors and our own personal lenses as nothing less than the whole truth" (21). Anyone who has read what passes for commentary on websites such as Church Militant or Rorate Caeli will find that statement surprising and refreshing.The second part ("Logos") contains four chapters that lucidly discuss contemporary disagreements in ethics between Kantians and virtue-ethicists, between new natural lawyers and MacIntyreans. Chapter 4 makes an effective and moving argument to read Plato "as a precursor to Faith, and a guide along the way home" (50). There are some brief but suggestive remarks drawing on Benedict XVI's Caritas in Veritate in [End Page 967] chapter 6 to argue that an ethics of gift can enable us to express the moral teachings of the New Testament in terms that are potentially convincing to a broader audience. "Metanoia" is the title of the third part, dedicated to education. Chapters 7–8 and 10 give not very original and yet timely arguments for the importance of the liberal arts, the need for Catholic universities to be institutions that can foster, rather than deform, the practice of philosophy, and the need for pedagogy to be rooted in the transmission of a community's tradition.2However, one cannot help but be startled when... (shrink)

In the Sophist, Plato presents the possibility of the separation of things in relation to each other based on the communion (koinōnia) of logos. In this study, I discuss the linguistic communion revealed in the dialogue by illuminating its three fundamental aspects: (1) Articulation of letters in names as communion on the syntactic level, (2) Predication of names in logoi as communion on the semantic level, (3) Homologoi of logoi as the ultimate communion of language. I thus conclude that these (...) three linguistic aspects are interdependent. (shrink)

_Dialogues for the Future_ provides a sneak peek at the long philosophic and intellectual journey of the renowned Arab scholar Taha Abderrahmane. This English translation allows English-speaking readers to engage with the open canvas of dialogue Taha has resiliently initiated.

Dialogues for the Future provides a sneak peek at the long philosophic journey of the renowned Arab scholar Taha Abderrahmane. The author looks at different thorny issues such as traditions, philosophy, ethics, globalization, and logic through a local prism that is not directedly tainted by the Western epistemic and ontological worldview. While seemingly addressing audiences with a background in the philosophy of language and Islamic philosophy, Taha's intellectual project tackles many questions that wider readerships might have about the (...) Muslims' and Arabs' contribution to knowledge in the past and present. The translator's introduction "on Dialogue, Ethics and Traditions" contextualizes Taha's book within the plethora of his academic work, allowing English-speaking readers to engage with the open canvas of dialogue Taha has resiliently initiated. (shrink)

Bu çalışma, çalışanlarda işkoliklikle benlik saygısı ilişkisinde algılanan örgütsel desteğin aracılık rolünü tespit etmek amacıyla yapılmıştır. Araştırma verilerini elde etmek için, Çorum ilinde bir kamu hastanesinde görev yapan 200 çalışana anket form uygulaması gerçekleştirilmiştir. Anket formunda demografik sorular dahil olmak üzere, hastane çalışanlarında işkoliklik, algılanan örgütsel destek ve benlik saygısını ölçmeye yönelik, ülkemizdeki çalışmalarda yaygın kullanılan geçerlilik ve güvenirlik analizleri yapılmış üç ayrı ölçek kullanılmıştır. Elde edilen veriler SPSS programında belirli analizlere tabi tutulmuştur. Çalışma sonucunda: algılanan örgütsel desteğin; işten zevk (...) alma (işkoliklik alt boyutu) ile kendini sevme (benlik saygısı alt boyutu) arasındaki ilişkide, işten zevk alma (işkoliklik alt boyutu) ile öz-yeterlilik (benlik saygısı alt boyutu) arasındaki ilişkide ve işe güdülenme hissi (işkoliklik alt boyutu) ile kendini sevme (benlik saygısı alt boyutu) arasındaki ilişkide kısmı aracılık rolü olduğu ve yine algılanan örgütsel desteğin; işe güdülenme hissi (işkoliklik alt boyutu) ile öz-yeterlilik (benlik saygısı alt boyutu) arasındaki ilişkide kısmı aracılık rolünün olduğu tespit edilmiştir. (shrink)

Mezheplerin teşekkül etmeye başladığı ilk dönemlerden itibaren istihsanın bir istidlal yöntemi olup olmadığı tartışılagelmiştir. Bu tartışmaların temelinde kavramsallaşma sürecini henüz tamamlamamış olan istihsan teriminin çağrıştırdığı keyfiliğin/sübjektivitenin etkisi çok fazladır. Bu yüzden istihsanı bir yöntem olarak benimseyenler, ağır ithamlara maruz kalmışlardır. İstihsanı benimseyenlerin başında Hanefî hukukçular gelmektedir. Öyle ki istihsan yöntemi Hanefî mezhebiyle anılır hale gelmiştir. Bununla birlikte mezhebin önde gelen temsilcilerinden biri olan ve kıyas metodunu kullanmasıyla ön plana çıkan Züfer b. Hüzeyl’in istihsana yaklaşımıyla ilgili iki farklı yaklaşım tespitedilmiştir. Yaptığımız (...) araştırma ve inceleme neticesinde her iki tespitinde isabetli olmadığını; Züfer b. Hüzeyl’inkıyas yapmadaki becerisinin yanı sıra istihsana müracaatta sonuna kadar kıyas taraftarı olduğunu; ancak kıyasın meselelere çözüm üretmede yetersiz kaldığı ya da doğru sonuç vermediği durumlarda ise ızdırârın da bir gereği olarak meseleyi hükümsüz bırakmama adına istihsana müracaat ettiği görülmektedir. Sonuç olarak Züfer b. Hüzeyl’in genel hatlarıyla Hanefî usulüne bağlı kalmakla birlikte istihsanı bir istidlâl yöntemi olarak kullanma hususunda çerçeveyi oldukça daralttığını; kıyasa başvurma konusunda ise sınırları mümkün olduğunca geniş tuttuğunu söylemek mümkündür. İctihad hürriyeti ve hukûkî zenginlik açısından oldukça önemli olan Hanefi mezhebindeki mezhep içi ihtilaflar, hukûkî istikrar ve emniyeti tehdit etme potansiyeli taşımakta ve ayrıca ihtilaflı meselelerde hüküm veya fetva verecek fakihlerin işini zorlaştırmaktadır. Bu nedenle mezhep içerisindeki ihtilaflı meselelerde râcih görüşü tespit etmek, diğer bir ifadeyle mezhep içi tercih, zorunlu bir ihtiyaçtır. Mezhep içi tercih, “muayyen bir mesele ile ilgili mezhepteki muhtelif kavil veya rivayetlerden daha ağır basanı, üstün olanı belirlemek” şeklinde tarif edilebilir. Tarihi süreçte bu ihtiyacı karşılamak için muhtasar ve fetva kitapları gibi farklı telif türleri; esahh-ı akvâl ve maʻrûzât gibi farklı uygulamalar ortaya çıkmıştır. Bu ihtiyacı gidermeyi hedefleyen uygulamalardan biri de Osmanlı Devleti’nin son dönemindeki kanunlaştırmalardır. Fıkha dayalı kanunlaştırmanın ilk örneği olan Mecelle-i Ahkâm-ı Adliyye ile mezhep içi tercih arasındaki ilişki ve bu bağlamda Mecelle hazırlanırken, mezhep içi tercihte nasıl bir usûl izlendiği; râcih görüşe ne oranda uyulduğu; Mecelleʼde yer alan râcih görüşe aykırı kanun maddeleri ve bunların gerekçeleri; ihtilaflı bütün konularda düzenleneme yapılıp yapılmadığı ve râcih görüşleri belirleme ihtiyacının ne kadar giderildiği, incelenmesi gereken konulardır. Mecelle-i Ahkâm-ı Adliyye gibi bir kanun metnine ihtiyaç duyulmasının temel nedenlerinden birisi, Hanefî mezhebinde mezhep içi ihtilafların çokluğudur. Buna bağlı olarak Mecelleʼnin hedefi râcih görüşler içeren oluşan bir kanun hazırlamaktır. Mecelle’nin esbâb-ı mûcibeleri mezhep içi tercih açısından incelendiğinde, esbâb-ı mûcibelerin iki temel işlevi olduğu görülür. Bunlardan ilki, kanunun büyük oranda mezhepteki râcih görüşlere uygun olarak hazırlandığını vurgulamaktır. Öyle ki, Mecelle’nin ilk on kitabının esbâb-ı mûcibelerinde bu husus mutlaka ifade edilmektedir. Esbâb-ı mûcibelerin diğer işlevi ise niçin bazı maddelerde râcih görüşe riayet edilmediğini gerekçelendirmektir. Esbâb-ı mûcibelerde on iki maddenin râcih olmayan görüş doğrultusunda hazırlandığı belirtilmektedir. Mecelleʼnin 1851 maddeden oluştuğu göz önünde tutulduğunda Mecelleʼnin muhtevasında râcih görüşlerin ne kadar etkili olduğu daha iyi anlaşılacaktır. Esasen devrin özelliği de bunu zorunlu kılmaktadır. Zira Kitâbüʼl-Havâlenin 692. maddesinde Züferʼin râcih olmayan görüşünün tercih edilmesi, başta Şeyhülislam Hasan Fehmi Efendi olmak üzere bazı çevrelerin tepkisine neden olmuş ve bu sebeple Ahmet Cevdet Paşa Divân-ı Ahkâm-ı Adliyye nâzırlığından ve Mecelle Komisyonu başkanlığından azledilmiştir. Râcih görüşe aykırı maddelerin esbâb-ı mûcibeleri incelendiğinde, bu yöndeki tercihlerde maslahat ve örfün belirleyici olduğu görülmektedir. Ayrıca bazı fakihlerin tercihlerinin de bir tercih sebebi olarak zikredildiği görülmektedir. Hanefi kaynaklarda en sık karşılaşılan tercih sebebi naslara uygunluktur. Buna karşın Mecelleʼde sefîhin hacri konusu dışında, naslara uygunluğun bir tercih sebebi olarak işletilmemesi dikkat çekicidir. Mecelle Komisyonunun bazı tercihlerine diğer kurumlarca müdahale edilmiştir. Komisyonca hazırlanan kitaplar hem Meclis-i Vükelâ hem de Meşîhat tarafından incelenmiş ve bu esnada bazı tashihlere konu olmuştur. İşte râcih olmayan görüş esas alınarak hazırlanan iki maddeye Meclis-i Vükelâ tarafından müdahale edilmiştir. Bunların birincisi hakk-ı mürur ve hakk-ı şirbin müstakil olarak satımının cevazını savunan Belh Meşâyihinin görüşü doğrultusunda yazılan 216. madde, ikincisi ise ecîr-i müşterekin tazmin sorumluluğunu düzenleyen 611. maddedir. Mecelle’nin ilk ve en hacimli kitabı olan Kitâbüʼl-Büyûʻun muhtevası mezhep içi tercih açısından incelendiğinde, ihtilaflı konularda genelde mezhepteki râcih görüşün esas alındığı görülmektedir. Kitâbüʼl-Büyûʻun esbâb-ı mûcibesinde, dört meselenin râcih olmayan görüş esas alınarak hazırlandığı ifade edilmekte ve bu tercihler örf ve maslahatla gerekçelendirilmektedir. Ancak Kitâbüʼl-Büyûʻdaki râcih görüşe aykırı maddeler bunlarla sınırlı değildir. Bizim araştırmamıza göre bunlara ilaveten üç madde daha râcih olmayan görüş tercih edilerek hazırlanmıştır. Bunlar beyʻ biʼl-vefânın menkullerde cevazına dair 118. madde, gabn-i fâhişin tanımı hakkındaki 165. madde ve şart muhayyerliğinin hükmü ile ilgili 309. maddedir. Bu üç madde, Mecelleʼdeki râcih görüşe aykırı düzenlemelerin sadece esbâb-ı mûcibelerde açıklananlardan ibaret olmadığını göstermektedir ve bu durum Mecelle hazırlanırken izlenen usûle aykırıdır. Hanefi mezhebindeki bazı ihtilaflı meselelerde hangi görüşün râcih olduğu konusunda tercih ehli fakihler ihtilaf etmişlerdir. Bu meselelerde Mecelleʼde düzenleme yapılırken nasıl bir yol izlendiği açıklanmamıştır. Bu meseleler incelendiğinde çoğunluk tarafından tercih edilme, kolaylığı temin etme ve bazı fakihler tarafından tercih edilme gibi hususların etkili olduğu söylenebilir. Mecelleʼdeki tercihler sadece şerʻî hükümler arasında gerçekleşmemiştir. Buna ilaveten tanımlar ve tanımlarda yer alan kayıtlar da tercihe konu olmuştur. Bu kapsamda Kitâbüʼl-Büyûʻdaki beyʻ akdi, mevkûf akid ve gabn-i fâhişin tanımına ilişkin tercihler örnek olarak zikredilebilir. Hanefi mezhebin içerisindeki ihtilaflı bazı meseleler Mecelleʼde düzenlenmemiştir. İhtilaflı meselelerin çokluğu ve dolayısıyla bütün bunları kapsayan bir kanun hazırlamanın zorluğu dikkate alındığında bu durum doğaldır. Ayrıca bu meselelerden bazıları sık gerçekleşmediği ve lüzumlu görülmediği için Mecelleʼde düzenlenmemiş olabilir. Ancak düzenleme yapılmayan ihtilaflı meselelerin tamamını bu sebeplerle izah etmek mümkün değildir. Zira yasal düzenleme yapılmayan ihtilaflı meselelerin bazıları temel, görece önemli meselelerdir ve muhtasarlarda yer almaktadır. Bu durum Mecelle hazırlanırken, ihtilaflı bazı meselelerde tercih yapmak yerine bu meselelere ilişkin düzenleme yapmama metodunun benimsendiğini göstermektedir. İhtilaftan ârî bir kanun metni oluşturmanın bir yolu olarak da bu usûlün benimsendiği söylenebilir. Böylece bu meselelerde râcih görüşü tespit etme işi hâkimlere bırakılmıştır. Bu durum Mecelleʼnin hedefi olan râcih görüşleri tespit etme ihtiyacını gidermeye uygunluk arz etmemektedir. Ancak bu durum bütün meseleleri kuşatan bir kanun yapmanın güçlüğünün bir sonucudur. (shrink)

A path scheme for a game is composed of a path, i.e., a sequence of coalitions that is formed during the coalition formation process and a scheme, i.e., a payoff vector for each coalition in the path. A path scheme is called population monotonic if a player’s payoff does not decrease as the path coalition grows. In this study, we focus on Shapley path schemes of simple games in which for every path coalition the Shapley value of the associated subgame (...) provides the allocation at hand. Obviously, each Shapley path scheme of a game is population monotonic if and only if the Shapley allocation scheme of the game is population monotonic in the sense of Sprumont (Games Econ Behav 2:378–394, 1990). We prove that a simple game allows for population monotonic Shapley path schemes if and only if the game is balanced. Moreover, the Shapley path scheme of a specific path is population monotonic if and only if the first winning coalition that is formed along the path contains every minimal winning coalition. We also show that each Shapley path scheme of a simple game is population monotonic if and only if the set of veto players of the game is a winning coalition. Extensions of these results to other efficient probabilistic values are discussed. (shrink)

Following the eclectic itineraries of ‘Near East’ expert, R. M. Graves, this article tells a story of an ongoing Nakba (catastrophe) of small and large legal decisions. Without reducing the human catastrophe of the event of the Nakba (the 1948 Palestinian forced exodus), it engages with it as a legal event that crosses (in this story at least) from Cairo to Jerusalem, from the League of Nations’ era (1920–1946) to the United Nations’ era (1945–), from the governance of labour and (...) gender, to labour partition, and finally to the governance of municipalities through law and expertise. Graves’ relationship to both Cairo and Jerusalem was materialized through different forms of affective legal governance. Graves, who in his own dichotomous words was ‘neither a Zionist nor an anti-Semite’, managed Jerusalem across national lines in the wake of the UN Partition Plan (1947), and as the old empire was withdrawing right before Jerusalem itself became a site of the catastrophe—right before the Nakba. (shrink)

The current study investigates Arabic orientational metaphors in Modern Standard Arabic. Specifically, it is a corpus-based study that tries to retrieve conceptual orientational metaphors ofup-down, front-back, right-left, andcentral-peripheralspatial orientation. The study assumes that every orientation can be described using a set of different lexemes, and these lexemes express different linguistic orientational metaphors with different levels of usage frequency. It is hypothesized that studying the relationships between these lexemes, their etymologies, and frequency can provide a detailed, integrative account of metaphorical aspects (...) and conceptual systems related to each spatial orientation. A bottom-up methodology to identify metaphorical usages of spatial lexemes was applied to theStanford Arabic Corpus. The results list the spatial linguistic metaphors comprising conceptual metaphors and show for each orientation that mapping orientations onto conceptual metaphors is a complicated process, which integrates linguistic and cognitive levels. The cognitive-perceptual and cultural implications of these findings are discussed. (shrink)

Les Sphériques ont été écrites par Ménélaos sous la forme d’un traité d’apparence purement mathématique. Cependant, la matière qui y est développée dans les deuxième et troisième livres est étroitement liée à des problèmes rencontrés en astronomie: calcul des coordonnées équatoriales du Soleil, établissement de tables d’ascensions, étude du mouvement du Soleil dans la sphère oblique, levers simultanés. Ce lien, qui demeure implicite dans le texte, a été mis en évidence par deux mathématiciens et astronomes arabo-musulmans, qui ont exposé la (...) signification astronomique de certains théorèmes des Sphériques. Nous présenterons, commenterons et complèterons cette explicitation en classant les théorèmes concernés en trois groupes: sens de variation de certaines grandeurs sur la sphère, propositions de trigonométrie sphérique et applications, sens de variation de rapports entre certaines grandeurs sur la sphère. The Spherics were written by Menelaos in the form of a purely mathematical treatise. However, the material developed in the second and third book is closely linked to problems met in astronomy: computation of equatorial coordinates of the Sun, setting up of rising-time tables, study of the motion of the Sun in the sphaera obliqua, simultaneous risings. This link, which remains implicit in the text, was clearly displayed by two arabo-islamic mathematicians and astronomers, who expounded the astronomical meaning of some theorems of the Spherics. We describe, comment and complement their explanations, by classifying the implications of the theorems in three groups: direction of variation of some quantities on the sphere, spherical trigonometry and applications, direction of variation of ratios of some quantities on the sphere. (shrink)

The semiotic model that disregards the normative context represented by the protagonist examines how we can distinguish the three conceptions of heroism, namely hero, semi-hero, and anti-hero. What are the methodological criteria whereby we can follow the protagonist in the text from beginning to end? To answer them, this article tries to present a model made up of five stages/criteria which constitute a semiotic model by means of which the connection to heroism can be determined. These are: (1) motivation, (2) (...) will, (3) ability, (4) execution, and (5) outcome. These stages can be logically classified into three categories: 1) Pre-action (the first three stages), 2) Action (the fourth stage), 3) Post-action (the fifth stage). The model proposed here suits all types of narrative and drama and all performance and film production arts. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Semiotica Jahrgang: 2016 Heft: 213 Seiten: 435-455.

Executive functions measures of 27 asthmatic children, with general learning difficulties, were tested by using the Wisconsin card sorting test (WCST), and were compared to the performances of 30 non-asthmatic children with general learning difficulties. The results revealed that the asthmatic group has poor performance through all the WCST psychometric parameters and especially the perseverative errors one. The results were discussed in light of the postulation that poor executive functions could be associated with the learning difficulties of asthmatic children. Neurophysiological (...) framework has been suggested to explain the etiology of poor executive functions among children with moderate into severe asthma. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Semiotica Jahrgang: 2017 Heft: 215 Seiten: 305-324.

Nazariyat, Journal for the History of Islamic Philosophy and Sciences, issued twice a year in English and Turkish (Nazariyat İslam Felsefe ve Bilim Tarihi Araştırmaları Dergisi), is a refereed international journal. It publishes original studies, critical editions of classical texts and book reviews on Islamic philosophy, kalām, theoretical aspects of Sufism and the history of sciences. The goal of Nazariyat is to contribute to the discovery, examination and reinterpretation of the theoretical traditions in the history of Islamic thought, by giving (...) special attention to the post-classical period of it. **ISSN: 2148-8088 E-ISBN: 2547-9415**. (shrink)

Nazariyat, Journal for the History of Islamic Philosophy and Sciences, issued twice a year in English and Turkish (Nazariyat İslam Felsefe ve Bilim Tarihi Araştırmaları Dergisi), is a refereed international journal. It publishes original studies, critical editions of classical texts and book reviews on Islamic philosophy, kalām, theoretical aspects of Sufism and the history of sciences. The goal of Nazariyat is to contribute to the discovery, examination and reinterpretation of the theoretical traditions in the history of Islamic thought, by giving (...) special attention to the post-classical period of it. **ISSN: 2148-8088 E-ISBN: 2547-9415**. (shrink)

On important Islamic religious concepts and terminologies.

Child trauma plays an important role in the etiology of Bordeline Personality Disorder. Of all traumas, sexual trauma is the most common, severe and most associated with receiving a BPD diagnosis when adult. Etiologic models posit sexual abuse as a prognostic factor in BPD. Here we apply machine learning using Multiple Kernel Regression to the Magnetic Resonance Structural Images of 20 BPD and 13 healthy control to see whether their brain predicts five sources of traumas: sex abuse, emotion neglect, emotional (...) abuse, physical neglect, physical abuse. We also applied the same analysis to predict symptom severity in five domains: affective, cognitive, impulsivity, interpersonal for BPD patients only. Results indicate that CTQ sexual trauma is predicted by a set of areas including the amygdala, the Heschl area, the Caudate, the Putamen, and portions of the Cerebellum in BPD patients only. Importantly, interpersonal problems only in BPD patients were predicted by a set of areas including temporal lobe and cerebellar regions. Notably, sexual trauma and interpersonal problems were not predicted by structural features in matched healthy controls. This finding may help elucidate the brain circuit affected by traumatic experiences and connected with interpersonal problems BPD suffer from. (shrink)

ObjectiveWe aimed to provide an overview of the psychological status and behavioral consequences of the lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic in Libya.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted among the Libyan population through May and June 2020 in more than 20 cities. The survey comprised basic demographic data of the participants and anxiety symptoms measured using the seven-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale with ≥15 as the cut-off score for clinically significant anxiety symptoms. Additionally, a survey regarding the lockdown effect was administered, which (...) consisted of several parts, to measure the lockdown status.ResultsA total of 8084 responses were recorded, of which, 5090 were women and 2994 were men. The mean age for study participants was 27.2 years. Among the participants, 1145 reached the cut-off score to detect anxiety symptoms; however, of the study variables, only five were predictors of clinically significant anxiety: age, gender, marital status, work status, being a financial supporter for the family, and being infected with COVID-19. Women had 1.19 times higher odds to exhibit anxiety symptoms than men. Increasing age was significantly associated with reduced likelihood of exhibiting anxiety symptoms, whereas being married was significantly associated with higher likelihood of anxiety symptoms, compared to not being married. Being suspended from work was associated with an increase in the likelihood of anxiety symptoms. However, we found that being infected with COVID-19 was associated with a 9.59 times higher risk of exhibiting severe anxiety symptoms. Among the study participants, 1451 reported a physical and/or verbal abuse episode from family members, 958 reported abuse outside the family, and 641 reported abuse from enforcers, during the lockdown.ConclusionOur study provided an overview of the psychological and behavioral status, among those who resided in Libya during the civil war and COVID-19 pandemic. The study demonstrates a concerningly high level of clinically significant anxiety during lockdown among the Libyan population during Libya’s lockdown period. (shrink)

Population-based genomics studies have proven successful in identifying genetic variants associated with diseases. High-quality biospecimens linked with informative health data from diverse segments of the population have made such research possible. However, the success of biobank research depends on the willingness of the public to participate in this type of research. We aimed to explore the factors associated with the willingness of the public to participate in biobank research from four low- and middle-income countries in the Arab region (Egypt, Jordan, (...) Morocco, and Sudan). We used a previously validated questionnaire to assess several constructs that included the public’s perceptions, attitudes, and willingness to participate in biobank research. We recruited 967 participants. More than half did not have prior awareness of biobanks. Participants’ willingness to donate biospecimens and health data was less than 10%. Our results also showed that participants harbored concerns with trust, privacy, and with data-sharing involving international researchers. Predictors of willingness to participate in biobank research included no previous involvement in research and positive attitudes toward biobanks. Finally, our study showed several differences between the four countries regarding several of the investigated constructs. We conclude there should be additional efforts to raise public awareness and enhance perceptions of the public in biobanking research to enhance trust. We further recommend qualitative research to explore the underlying factors that contribute to the public’s concerns with international data sharing that would enhance global health. (shrink)

In recent years, there has been a huge increase in the number of bots online, varying from Web crawlers for search engines, to chatbots for online customer service, spambots on social media, and content-editing bots in online collaboration communities. The online world has turned into an ecosystem of bots. However, our knowledge of how these automated agents are interacting with each other is rather poor. Bots are predictable automatons that do not have the capacity for emotions, meaning-making, creativity, and sociality (...) and it is hence natural to expect interactions between bots to be relatively predictable and uneventful. In this article, we analyze the interactions between bots that edit articles on Wikipedia. We track the extent to which bots undid each other’s edits over the period 2001–2010, model how pairs of bots interact over time, and identify different types of interaction trajectories. We find that, although Wikipedia bots are intended to support the encyclopedia, they often undo each other’s edits and these sterile “fights” may sometimes continue for years. Unlike humans on Wikipedia, bots’ interactions tend to occur over longer periods of time and to be more reciprocated. Yet, just like humans, bots in different cultural environments may behave differently. Our research suggests that even relatively “dumb” bots may give rise to complex interactions, and this carries important implications for Artificial Intelligence research. Understanding what affects bot-bot interactions is crucial for managing social media well, providing adequate cyber-security, and designing well functioning autonomous vehicles. (shrink)