Background Providing quality care is of the fundamental elements of holistic nursing practice, and burnout and moral intelligence of nurses be mentioned as the important factors influencing the quality of nursing care. The present study was conducted to investigate the relationship between moral intelligence, burnout, and the quality of nursing care. Methods This descriptive-correlative study was conducted on 125 nurses working in Sari-based Educational hospitals affiliated to Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Iran, between June and August 2020. The sample was (...) selected via random sampling. The data were collected by the Maslach Burnout Inventory, Lennick and Kiel Moral Intelligence Scale, and Quality of Patient Care Scale. The data were analyzed by SPSS-21 and Amos-24. Results A direct and significant relationship was found between the quality of nursing care and moral intelligence ( r = 0.285, p = 0.001). Quality of care had an inverse relationship with subscales of frequency of burnout including emotional exhaustion ( r = −0.369, p < 0.001) and depersonalization ( r = −0.471, p < 0.001) and also, a direct relationship with personal accomplishment ( r = 0.226, p = 0.011). The findings also showed an inverse relationship between quality of care and subscales of the intensity of burnout. Amos software yielded results that demonstrated moral intelligence as a robust mediator between burnout and the quality of care. Conclusion The findings implied the necessity for more attention to moral intelligence as a mediator in order to come up with properly managing the personality traits influencing the nurses’ burnout reduction, which can ultimately lead to improved quality of nursing care. (shrink)

It is deemed that the effectiveness of teachers is highly entangled with psycho-emotional constructs, such as critical thinking (CT), emotion regulation (ER), and immunity. Despite the potential roles of CR, ER, and immunity, their possible relationships have remained unexplored in the higher education context of Iran. To fill in this lacuna, this study explored the potential role of CT and ER in university teachers' immunity in the Iranian higher education context. For this purpose, a total of 293 English university teachers (...) were selected using a convenience sampling method. They were invited to fill out the Watson–Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal-Form, Language Teacher Emotion Regulation Inventory, and Language Teacher Immunity Instrument. The findings of path analysis indicated that the university teachers with higher CT were more productively immunized. Moreover, the results revealed that ER could predict the university teachers' immunity. The findings of the study lead to this implication that higher order thinking skills, emotion regulatory strategies, and immune enhancement should be incorporated into educational programs of higher education. (shrink)

Publication date: 30 March 2017 Source: Author: Tahereh Rezaei, Mohsen Hanif Art in general and fiction in particular have had close affinities with politics throughout history. When there is a close tie between a narrative fiction and political issues then critics may deem it as “committed fiction”. Political fiction is at the crossroads of political science and the art of fiction. And more often than not, novelists are involved with politics but not all of them are dubbed as (...) or even consider themselves to be political novelists. In this article I attempt to investigate political fiction as a distinct genre produced consciously by a range of novelists and critics. The authors discussed in this paper demonstrate dissimilar perspectives on freedom and democracy. Also, regarding political fiction and the responsibility of author, we will see how divergent is the attitudes of critics such as George Orwell, Allen Robbe-Grillet, Juan Goytisolo, Mario Vargas Llosa and Isabel Allende. (shrink)

As more national governments adopt policies addressing the ethical implications of artificial intelligence, a comparative analysis of policy documents on these topics can provide valuable insights into emerging concerns and areas of shared importance. This study critically examines 57 policy documents pertaining to ethical AI originating from 24 distinct countries, employing a combination of computational text mining methods and qualitative content analysis. The primary objective is to methodically identify common themes throughout these policy documents and perform a comparative analysis of (...) the ways in which various governments give priority to crucial matters. A total of nineteen topics were initially retrieved. Through an iterative coding process, six overarching themes were identified: principles, the protection of personal data, governmental roles and responsibilities, procedural guidelines, governance and monitoring mechanisms, and epistemological considerations. Furthermore, the research revealed 31 ethical dilemmas pertaining to AI that had been overlooked previously but are now emerging. These dilemmas have been referred to in different extents throughout the policy documents. This research makes a scholarly contribution to the expanding field of technology policy formulations at the national level by analyzing similarities and differences among countries. Furthermore, this analysis has practical ramifications for policymakers who are attempting to comprehend prevailing trends and potentially neglected domains that demand focus in the ever-evolving field of artificial intelligence. (shrink)

Proactively including the ethical and societal issues of new technologies could have a positive effect on their acceptance. These issues could be captured in terms of values. In the literature, the values stakeholders deem important for the development of technology have often been identified. However, the relative ranking of these values in relation to each other have not been studied often. The best worst method is proposed as a possible method to determine the weights of values, hence it is used (...) in an evaluative fashion. The applicability of the method is tested by applying it to the case of smart meters, one of the main components of the smart grid. The importance of values is examined for three dimensions of acceptance namely sociopolitical, market, and household acceptance. (shrink)

Question: In Islamic philosophy, Active Intellect is Peripatetic tenth intellect. Also in Peripatetic epistemology, Potential human intellect, acts by unification or conjunction with active (agent) intellect. This intellective thrust has a wielder and more attractive role in Illuminative wisdom. Meted: The research methodology based on tradition Comparative studies to analyze and adapt votes Gazi Saeed Qummi and votes illuminated Suhrawardi.Results:1- Human’s archetype adjust with Gabriel, in religions and Active (agent) Intellect in Illuminative wisdom. 2-Human’s archetype appears as “perfect nature” format (...) during personal relation to every special individual.3 and also explains relation between Emam and believer in shiaa’s idea. (shrink)

Question: In Islamic philosophy, Active Intellect is Peripatetic tenth intellect. Also in Peripatetic epistemology, Potential human intellect, acts by unification or conjunction with active (agent) intellect. This intellective thrust has a wielder and more attractive role in Illuminative wisdom. Meted: The research methodology based on tradition Comparative studies to analyze and adapt votes Gazi Saeed Qummi and votes illuminated Suhrawardi.Results:1- Human’s archetype adjust with Gabriel, in religions and Active (agent) Intellect in Illuminative wisdom. 2-Human’s archetype appears as “perfect nature” format (...) during personal relation to every special individual.3 and also explains relation between Emam and believer in shiaa’s idea. (shrink)

Background:Moral distress is one of intensive care unit nurses’ major problems, which may happen due to various reasons, and has several consequences. Due to various moral distress outcomes in intensive care unit nurses, and their impact on nurses’ personal and professional practice, recognizing moral distress is very important.Research objective:The aim of this study was to determine correlation between moral distress with burnout and anticipated turnover in intensive care unit nurses.Research design:This study is a descriptive-correlation research.Participants and research context:A total of (...) 159 intensive care unit nurses were selected from medical sciences universities in Iran. Data collection instruments included “demographic questionnaire,” “ICU Nurses’ Moral Distress Scale,” “Copenhagen Burnout Inventory” and “Hinshaw and Atwood Turnover Scale.” Data analysis was done by using SPSS19.Ethical considerations:Informed consent from samples and research approval was obtained from Shahid Beheshti Medical Sciences University Research Ethics Board in Tehran.Findings:The findings showed intensive care unit nurses’ moral distress and anticipated turnover was high, but burnout was moderate. The results revealed that there was a positive statistical correlation between intensive care unit nurses’ age, their work experience and the fraction of nurses’ number to number of intensive care unit beds with their moral distress and burnout. However, there were no correlation between gender, marriage status, educational degree and work shift and moral distress.Discussion:Some of the findings of this research are consistent with other studies and some of them are inconsistent.Conclusion:Similarly, moral distress with burnout and anticipated turnover did not have statistical correlation. However, a positive correlation was found between burnout and anticipated turnover. The results showed that increase in the recruitment of young nurses, and nursing personnel, and diminishing intensive care unit nurses’ moral distress, burnout and their turnover intention are essential. (shrink)

Background: Physical restraint is among the commonly used methods for ensuring patient safety in intensive care units. However, nurses usually experience ethical dilemmas over using physical restraint because they need to weigh patient autonomy against patient safety. Aim: The aim of this study was to explore factors behind ethical dilemmas for critical care nurses over using physical restraint for patients. Design: This is a qualitative study using conventional content analysis approach, as suggested by Graneheim and Lundman, to analyze the data. (...) Methods: Seventeen critical care nurses were purposefully recruited from the four intensive care units in Tehran, Iran. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews and were concurrently analyzed through conventional content analysis as suggested by Graneheim and Lundman. Ethical consideration: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran with the code: IR.IUMS.REC.1397.795. Before interviews, participants were provided with explanations about the aim of the study, the confidentiality of the data, their freedom to participate, and the right to withdraw the study, and their free access to the study findings. Finally, their consents were obtained, and interviews were started. Results: Factors behind ethical dilemmas for critical care nurses over using physical restraint were categorized into three main categories, namely the outcomes of using physical restraint, the outcomes of not using physical restraint, and emotional distress for nurses. The outcomes of using physical restraint were categorized into the three subcategories of ensuring patient safety, physical damage to patients, and mental damage to the patient. The outcomes of not using physical restraint fell into two subcategories, namely the risks associated with not using physical restraint and legal problems for nurses. Finally, the two subcategories of the emotional distress for nurses main category were nurses’ negative feelings about restraint use and uncertainty over the decision on physical restraint use. Conclusion: Decision-making for restraint use is often associated with ethical dilemmas, because nurses need to weight the outcomes of its use against the outcomes of not using it and also consider patient safety and autonomy. Health authorities are recommended to develop clear evidence-based guidelines for restraint use and develop and implement educational and counseling programs for nurses on the principles of ethical nursing practice, patient rights, physical restraint guidelines and protocols, and management of emotional, ethical, and legal problems associated with physical restraint use. (shrink)

Teaching in higher education is critical and fraught with potential vicissitudes, which necessitates the presence of efficient professors armed with positive attributes to perform effectively. Although it is generally accepted that emotion regulation has numerous benefits for language teachers, in particular university professors, little is known about how it interacts with two other important constructs, i.e., self-efficacy and L2 grit. Furthermore, the effect of ER on L2 teacher grit has not been sufficiently investigated. To fill this gap, the current study (...) was to test a structural model of English as a Foreign Language university professors’ ER, self-efficacy, and L2 grit. The participants were 356 Iranian EFL university professors who completed the Language Teacher Emotion Regulation Inventory, the Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale, and the L2-Teacher Grit Scale. The results of Structural Equation Modeling revealed that ER and self-efficacy were strong predictors of L2 grit. Moreover, the significant role of self-efficacy on ER was discovered. The implications of this study may foster effective teaching in higher education, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts on education. (shrink)

Recently, research on uncertainty modeling is progressing rapidly and many essential and breakthrough stud ies have already been done. There are various ways such as fuzzy, intuitionistic and neutrosophic sets to handle these uncertainties. Although these concepts can handle incomplete information in various real-world issues, they cannot address all types of uncertainty such as indeterminate and inconsistent information. Also, plithogenic sets as a generalization of crisp, fuzzy, intuitionistic fuzzy, and neutrosophic sets, which is a set whose elements are characterized by (...) many attributes’ values. In this paper, our aim is to demonstrate and review the history of fuzzy, intuitionistic and neutrosophic sets. For this purpose, we divided the paper as: section 1. History of Fuzzy Sets, section 2. History of Intuitionistic Fuzzy Sets and section 3. History of Neutrosophic Theories and Applications, section 4. History of Plithogenic Sets. (shrink)

The main goal of this paper is to introduce the notion of stabilizers in \(L\)-algebras and develop stabilizer theory in \(L\)-algebras. In this paper, we introduced the notions of left and right stabilizers and investigated some related properties of them. Then, we discussed the relations among stabilizers, ideal and co-annihilators. Also, we obtained that the set of all ideals of a \(CKL\)-algebra forms a relative pseudo-complemented lattice. In addition, we proved that right stabilizers in \(CKL\)-algebra are ideals. Then by using (...) the right stabilizers we produced a basis for a topology on \(L\)-algebra. We showed that the generated topology by this basis is Baire, connected, locally connected and separable and we investigated the other properties of this topology. (shrink)

Due to the potent role of teachers’ emotion regulation in effective teaching, it seems essential to see how emotion regulation can contribute to other relevant teaching constructs. In this regard, the present study is intended to probe into the causal relationship among teacher emotion regulation, self-efficacy beliefs, engagement, and anger. In so doing, the Language Teacher Emotion Regulation Inventory, The Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale, The Engaged Teacher Scale, and The Teacher Anger Scale were administered to 581 English as a (...) Foreign Language teachers in Iran. To gauge the causal relationships among the variables, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling using LISREL 8.80 were conducted. The results indicated that language teacher emotion regulation could positively and significantly predict teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs and engagement at work. Moreover, the influence of language teacher emotion regulation on the teacher’s anger is significantly negative. That is, the stronger emotion regulation is implemented the better teachers can manage their anger. The implications of this study may uncover new prospects for effective teaching, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. (shrink)

Pitt :735–741, 2017) has argued that reductive representationalism entails an absurdity akin to the “paramechanical hypothesis” Ryle attributed to Descartes. This paper focuses on one version of reductive representationalism: the property-complex theory. We contend that at least insofar as the property-complex theory goes, Pitt is wrong. The result is not just a response to Pitt, but also a clarification of the aims and structure of the property-complex theory.

Medical ethics is a practical key element in the medical curriculum. Movies can be used as an effective and innovative way to involve students in discussions and reflections on ethical issues. This study aimed to evaluate the appropriateness of medical movies as a tool in medical ethics education. During the last teaching session of the medical ethics courses, the movie “Extreme Measures” was shown to the medical students. The present study is a descriptive-analytical study of 302 students’ manuscripts. The quantitative (...) content analysis of the students’ manuscripts was carried out using a checklist that contained 11 titles and 75 subtitles. Each student’s checklist was compared to the student’s final exam score. The most recognized issue was justice, and the least recognized one was confidentiality and privacy. Nonmaleficence, respecting autonomy and informed consent, honor and integrity, end of life, duty and responsibility, conflict of interest, beneficence, relationship with colleagues and altruism were located in-between. There was a relationship between students’ final exam scores and their manuscripts’ scores. According to our findings, relevant movies with standard categorization can be used as a useful method for medical ethics education and assessment. (shrink)

Diego Bubbio criticizes the current debate between the “new theists” and the “new atheists,” arguing that philosophy of religion has been reduced to a kind of inconclusive debate between atheistic naturalism and theistic natural philosophy. He calls for a revision of the criteria defining the scope of philosophy of religion and believes that the post-Kantian philosophy (particularly contemporary continental philosophy) can help set a proper normative criterion for redefining the scope of philosophy of religion. In this article, we elaborate on (...) some other aspects on which continental philosophers can have a role in setting a proper scope for the philosophy of religion. (shrink)

A hypergroup, as a generalization of the notion of a group, was introduced by F. Marty in 1934. The first book in hypergroup theory was published by Corsini. Nowadays, hypergroups have found applications to many subjects of pure and applied mathematics, for example, in geometry, topology, cryptography and coding theory, graphs and hypergraphs, probability theory, binary relations, theory of fuzzy and rough sets and automata theory, physics, and also in biological inheritance.

Background: Euthanasia is a controversial issue in many countries. However, there is little evidence about attitudes of nurses and nursing students toward euthanasia. Research aims: The present study aimed to compare nurses and nursing students' attitudes toward euthanasia. Research design: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study. Participants and research context: Using census sampling, 390 nurses and 125 nursing students were enrolled in this study. Methods: Data were collected using a socio-demographic questionnaire and Euthanasia Attitude Scale that included 20 items that (...) sought to record participants’ level of agreement with euthanasia based on a Likert-type scale. Ethical considerations: Objectives of the study were stated for all samples, and emphasized the confidentiality of their specifics and responses, and informed written consent was obtained from all participants. Findings: The mean score of nurses and nursing students’ attitudes about euthanasia was 3.14 ± 0.26 and 3.22 ± 0.24 out of 5, respectively. The majority of nurses and nursing students had a positive attitude toward euthanasia. There was a significant statistical difference between the attitudes of nurses and nursing students to euthanasia. Discussion: The results indicated that the majority of students and nurses had a positive attitude regarding euthanasia. Conclusion: It was recommended to conduct more studies on euthanasia in Iran. (shrink)

Background: Leadership style adopted by nursing managers is a key element in progress and development of nursing and quality of healthcare services received by the patients. In this regard, the role of ethical leadership is of utmost importance. Objectives: The objective of the study was to elaborate on the ethical leadership and its role in professional progress and growth of nurses in the light of work condition in health providing institutes. Methods: The study was carried out as a qualitative study (...) following conventional content analysis method. In total, 14 nursing faculty members and nursing managers at different levels were selected through purposive sampling method. Semi-structured interviews were used for data gathering. The data were analyzed using latent content analysis and constant comparison analysis. Ethical considerations: This study was conducted in accordance with ethical issues in research with human participants and national rules and regulations related to informed consent and confidentiality. The study was approved by the Committee of Ethics in Research at the Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences in Tehran, Iran, under the code: sbmu.rec.1393.695 on 15 February 2015. Findings: Five subcategories were obtained based on the analysis, which constituted two main categories including “all-inclusive satisfaction” and “productivity.” Nursing leaders highlighted the point that their ethical behavior creates “inner satisfaction of the leader,” “employees’ job satisfaction,” and “patients’ satisfaction.” Improvement of productivity was another outcome of ethical behavior of the leaders. This kind of behavior resulted in “providing better services” and “inspiring ethical behavior in the employees.” It has great influence on progress and growth of the nursing profession. Conclusion: By creating an ethical climate, ethical leadership leads to positive and effective outcomes—for the patients as well as for the nurses and the leaders—and professional progress and development of the nursing profession. Therefore, an ethical work environment that supports nurses’ progress and development can be developed by paying more attention to moralities in recruitment, teaching ethical values to the leaders, and using a systematic and objective approach to assess morality in the environment. (shrink)

With the realization of the promised global village, media, particularly online newspapers, play a significant role in delivering news to the world. However, such means of news circulation can propagate different ideologies in line with the dominant power. This, coupled with the emergence of so-called Islamic terrorist groups, has turned the focus largely on Islam and Muslims. This study attempts to shed light on the image of Islam being portrayed in Western societies through a Critical Discourse Analysis approach. To this (...) end, a number of headlines about Islam or Muslims have been randomly culled from three leading newspapers in Western print media namely The Guardian, The Independent and The New York Times. This study utilizes “ideological square” notion of Van Dijk characterized by “positive presentation” of selves and “negative presentation” of others alongside his socio-cognitive approach. Moreover, this study will take the linguistic discourses introduced by Van Leeuwen regarding “representing social actors and social practices” into consideration. The findings can be employed to unravel the mystery behind the concept of “Islamophobia” in Western societies. Besides, it can reveal how specific lexical items, as well as grammatical structures are being employed by Western media to distort the notion of impartiality. (shrink)

Focusing on some contemporary Islamic reformers’ solutions, in particular, Abolkarim Soroush, Mohsen Kadivar, and Fazlur Rahman, to concrete issues in Muslim societies, this article examines two different methodological strategies of alternative readings of the Sunna: an archeological one and a genealogical one. In the archeological perspective, the holy text has been considered as a repository of answers to all sorts of questions. Through a pathological analysis, this view suggests solutions to correct distortions and looks for new windows seeking an original (...) interpretation of the Qur’an. The genealogical view, on the other hand, puts aside this pathology and instead insists on the idea of the contingency of any interpretation. Regardless of accuracy and validity, according to the genealogical view, all interpretations have addressed temporal and contextual questions. What is important in this perspective is not returning to an original source for finding the exact message of Allah, or correcting previous interpretations, but recurrently referring to an open-ended text in order to explore the futures of the Qur’an. (shrink)

Application of technologies has an important role in agricultural development. Identifying and assessing the impacts of agricultural technologies is necessary. This study aimed at assessing the impacts of laser levelling economically, socially, environmentally, and technically in the viewpoint of the agricultural experts and identifying factors determining their perception of the impacts. The study samples (151 experts) were selected using multi-stage random sampling in Fars Province, Iran. The results revealed that experts considered uniform distribution of water, using conservation tillage, facilitating agricultural (...) activities, decreased water consumption and decrease of water wasting as the most important technical impacts of laser levelling technology. The most environmentally important impacts were the decrease of soil erosion and retention of crop residues. Experts stated the most significant social impacts as improvement in villages living conditions and sense of belonging to rural areas. Besides, an increase of income and reduction of inputs costs were among the economic impacts of laser levelling technology. According to the results, attitude towards water and soil resources conservation and environmental beliefs had the highest direct effect on individual perception toward impacts. Practical recommendations have been presented based on the results of the study. (shrink)

Background and objectivesThe study of brain functional connectivity alterations in children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder has been the subject of considerable investigation, but the biological mechanisms underlying these changes remain poorly understood. Here, we aim to investigate the brain alterations in patients with ADHD and Typical Development children and accurately classify ADHD children from TD controls using the graph-theoretical measures obtained from resting-state fMRI.Materials and methodsWe investigated the performances of rs-fMRI data for classifying drug-naive children with ADHD from TD controls. Fifty (...) six drug-naive ADHD children and 56 age matched TD controls were included in this study. The graph measures extracted from rs-fMRI functional connectivity were used as features. Extracted network-based features were fed to the RFE feature selection algorithm to select the most discriminating subset of features. We trained and tested Support Vector Machine, Random Forest, and Gradient Boosting using Peking center data from ADHD-200 database to classify ADHD and TD children using discriminative features. In addition to the machine learning approach, the statistical analysis was conducted on graph measures to discover the differences in the brain network of patients with ADHD.ResultsAn accuracy of 78.2% was achieved for classifying drug-naive children with ADHD from TD controls employing the optimal features and the GB classifier. We also performed a hub node analysis and found that the number of hubs in TD controls and ADHD children were 8 and 5, respectively, indicating that children with ADHD have disturbance of critical communication regions in their brain network. The findings of this study provide insight into the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying ADHD.ConclusionPattern recognition and graph measures of the brain networks, based on the rs-fMRI data, can efficiently assist in the classification of ADHD children from TD controls. (shrink)

Rough set theory is an excellent mathematical tool for the analysis of a vague description of actions in decision problems. Now, in this paper by considering the notion of an equality algebra, the notion of the lower and the upper approximations are introduced and some properties of them are given. Moreover, it is proved that the lower and the upper approximations define an interior operator and a closure operator, respectively. Also, using D-lower and D-upper approximation, conditions for a nonempty subset (...) to be definable are provided and investigated that under which condition D-lower and D-upper approximation can be filter. (shrink)

Almost every case of visual experience is as of a unified state of affairs and as of one or more specific particulars. I argue that a view on which the content of visual experience is a singular proposition does a better job at explaining these two features of visual experience than three popular theories: the Complex Property Theory, Generalism, and Fregean Particularism. The defended view, however, entails that there are no visual hallucinations traditionally understood. I make the case for the (...) plausibility of this consequence. (shrink)

The conventional production model based on extensive use of chemical inputs such as pesticides is increasingly challenged. Organic agriculture is considered as one of the most important alternative agricultural systems to produce healthy food without any chemicals. Current models are not suitable for prediction of environmental behaviors. The current study aims to analyze the diffusion of organic agriculture to produce healthy food with the environmental sociology approach among farmers. The study was conducted using the survey research and multi-stage random sampling (...) in Fars province, in the south of Iran. The samples included 215 farmers. The reliability of the questionnaire was confirmed by conducting a pilot study out of the main sample. The results showed that the farmers have strong attitude to the environment and are for the most part, highly intentioned to perform organic activities. Based on the results, the farmers’ intention toward adoption of organic agriculture, environmental identity, and responsibility of pro-environmental behavior, and their moral norms play an important role to accept organic agricultural activities. There are also some effective factors in implementation of organic agriculture including farmers` increasing awareness about the principles of organic farming, controllability of environmental behaviors as well as their accessibility to the resources and facilities for organic farming. The study emphasized that the attitude and enhancing the knowledge do not lead to pro-environmental behaviors and organic activities directly. Using the models and environmental sociology theories is more efficient to explain pro-environmental behaviors. To this aim, some suggestions were presented to increase the adoption of organic activities and persuade the Iranian farmers to select this kind of cultivation. (shrink)

Advancement of social media in the modern era provides a good incentive for researchers to unleash the potential of social networking tools in order to improve education. Despite the significant role of social media in affecting second/foreign language learning processes, few empirical studies have tried to find out how Instagram feed-based tasks affect learning grammar structure. To fill this lacuna of research, the current study set forth to delve into the influence of Instagram feed-based tasks on learning grammar among English (...) as a foreign language learners. In so doing, a sample of 84 intermediate EFL learners were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. The learners in the control group received regular online instruction via webinar platforms. In contrast, the learners in the experimental group were exposed to Instagram feed-based tasks. Data inspection applying one-way ANCOVA indicated that the learners in the experimental group outperformed their counterparts in the control group. The results highlighted the significant contributions of Instagram feed-based tasks in fostering learning grammar. Furthermore, EFL learners’ positive attitudes toward using Instagram Feed-based Tasks in Learning Grammar was concluded. The implications of this study may redound to the benefits of language learners, teachers, curriculum designers, as well as policy makers in providing opportunities for further practice of Instagram feed-based tasks in language learning and teaching. (shrink)

A correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-021-03218-0.

This paper aims to consider the implications of Noddings’ ethics of care theory for child-friendly projects and their underlying philosophical assumptions. It is explained that this theory with its emphasis on the children’s needs and rights and, more importantly, the emphasis on the care relation and care encounter indicates how Noddings’ main concepts and ideas could be taken into consideration in exploring the challenges of implementing child-friendly projects. Therefore, the main concepts of ethics of care theory including need and right, (...) empathy and sympathy, receptive and projective, care about and cared-for, expressed and inferred needs were investigated by considering their adaptation with the origin and the destination of child-friendly projects. Accordingly, a series of questions was set out to illustrate the theoretical challenges that may have been reflected in implementing the child-friendly project. These questions were also categorized in light of three core characteristics of Noddings’ theory of caring: 1) relational ontology; which refers to the relational nature of children life, 2) attention with concern; which refers to the moral sentiment/non-rational life of children and 3) particularism; which refers to the particularity of children’s lives. As individuals/researchers and as members of the child-friendly community we can focus on these questions to understand the challenges of the project and provide a potential for its qualitative evaluation. (shrink)

The principles of medical ethics, common as they are in the world at the present time, have been formed in the context of Western secular communities; consequently, secular principles and values are inevitably manifested in all corners of medical ethics. Medical ethics is at its infancy in Iran. In order to incorporate medical ethics into the country's health system, either the same thoughts, principles, rules, and codes of Western communities should be translated and taught across the country, or else, if (...) the principles and values and consequently the prominent moral rules and codes of Western medical ethics are not consistent with the culture, customs, and religion of our country, then new principles and values should be formulated that are more in harmony with our society. According to the available literature in Iran, the four principles proposed by Beauchamp and Childress do not contradict the Islamic-Iranian culture and can thus be generally applied in the mentioned context. However, the application of these four principles and their derivatives requires careful examination and adaptation to Islamic ethics. A comparison of the ontological, anthropological and epistemological foundations of secular and Islamic attitudes shows the differences between these two attitudes to be deep-rooted. “Rationalism,” “scientism,” and “humanism” are the main foundations of secularism, whereas “Godcentrism,” “pure human servitude to God,” the belief in “returning of humans to God,” “resurrection day,” and also human's accountability to God are all fundamental beliefs and principles of religion for Muslims of all cults and sects. It can thus be concluded that the principles of secularist thought are different from and to some extent inconsistent with the principles of Islam. Instructions derived from secular thought can therefore not be implemented in an Islamic community; rather, these communities should adopt Islamic foundations as the source for the norms and standards of their medical ethics. The capacities of religious thought make possible the formation of an ethical system consistent with Islamic Ummah. (shrink)

The falling shadow theory is applied to subhoops and filters in hoops. The notions of falling fuzzy subhoops and falling fuzzy filters in hoops are introduced, and several properties are investigated. Relationship between falling fuzzy subhoops and falling fuzzy filters are discussed, and conditions for a falling fuzzy subhoop to be a falling fuzzy filter are provided. Also conditions for a falling shadow of a random set to be a falling fuzzy filer are displayed.

The falling shadow theory is applied to subhoops and filters in hoops. The notions of falling fuzzy subhoops and falling fuzzy filters in hoops are introduced, and several properties are investigated. Relationship between falling fuzzy subhoops and falling fuzzy filters are discussed, and conditions for a falling fuzzy subhoop to be a falling fuzzy filter are provided. Also conditions for a falling shadow of a random set to be a falling fuzzy filter are displayed.

The notions of soju filters in a hoop algebra are introduced, and related properties are investigated. Relations between a soju sub-hoop, a soju filter and an implicative soju filter are discussed. Conditions for a soju filter to be implicative are displayed, and characterizations of an implicative soju filters are considered. The extension property of an implicative soju filter is established.

The notions of soju filters in a hoop algebra are introduced, and related properties are investigated. Relations between a soju sub-hoop, a soju filter and an implicative soju filter are discussed. Conditions for a soju filter to be implicative are displayed, and characterizations of an implicative soju filters are considered. The extension property of an implicative soju filter is established.

Background:The nurses’ moral sensitivity is the first step to make right decisions in difficult moral situations. Therefore, its education and promotion is highly important.Research objectives:The aim of this study was to examine the impact of poetry-based ethics education on the nurses’ moral sensitivity.Research design and methods:This was a semi-experimental study. The sample consisted of 108 nurses who were selected by convenience sampling method and randomly assigned to three groups: intervention with poetry (G1), who read a booklet about values and principles (...) of professional ethics as well as poems related to these subjects for 1 month; intervention without poetry (G2), who only read the booklet without any poetry; and control group (G3), who did not receive any intervention. Data were collected by Moral Sensitivity Questionnaire that was completed by the participants prior to the intervention (T1), 1-month post-intervention (T2), and 2-month post-intervention (T3). Data were analyzed by SPSS 16 software.Ethical considerations:This study was conducted in accord with the principles of research ethics and regulations relating to informed consent.Findings:Changes in the mean score of total moral sensitivity were significantly higher in G1 than in G2, which was in turn significantly higher than in G3. This increase was significant from T1 to T2 and T2 to T3 (P < 0.001). In all subscales, there was a significant difference between the mean changes in the three groups, so that in these subscales, the mean changes in G1 were significantly higher than those in other groups.Discussion:In line with previous studies, our results showed the effectiveness of poetry-based education on the transfer of educational concepts and increase moral sensitivity scores with greater lasting effect.Conclusion:The use of interdisciplinary subjects such as poetry, due to its entertaining, fun, and lasting effect on minds; level of awareness; and actions of nurses, can help raise nursing moral sensitivity. (shrink)

BackgroundEthical care provided by nurses to earthquake victims is one of the main subjects in nursing profession.ObjectivesGiven the information gap in this field, the present study is an attempt to explore the nurses’ experience of ethical care provided to victims of an earthquake.Research design and methodA hermeneutic phenomenological study was performed. The participants were 16 nurses involved in providing care to the injured in Kermanshah earthquake, Iran. They were selected using purposeful sampling, and in-depth and semi-structured interviews were carried out. (...) The transcribed interviews were analyzed based on the hermeneutic approach using the analysis method proposed by Diekelmann et al.Ethical considerationsThe study was approved by the Research Council and Ethics Committee of Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Iran.FindingsData analyses revealed four themes and 10 sub-themes that illustrated nurses’ experience of ethical care during earthquake. The themes were (1) Respecting humanistic values (sacrifice, stepping beyond task description, and voluntary work), (2) Commitment to ethics (honesty, confidentiality, and trustworthiness), (3) Respecting dignity of victims (respecting cultural values, maintaining privacy, having humanistic perspective, and effective communication), and (4) Spiritual support (helping patients to do religious rituals Psychological support).ConclusionThe results showed the nurses’ experience with providing care to earthquake victims. The findings underlined ethics and ethical values in providing nursing care during disasters. It is suggested that special courses on the importance of nursing ethics in critical situations be incorporated into nursing curriculums and in-service educations. (shrink)

In this paper, as an extension of CI-algebras, we discuss the new notions of Neutro-CI-algebras and Anti-CI-algebras. First, some examples are given to show that these definitions are different. We prove that any proper CI-algebra is a Neutro-BE-algebra or Anti-BE-algebra. Also, we show that any NeutroSelf-distributive and Anti-Commutative CI-algebras are not BE-algebras.