Supportive peer relationships are crucial for mental and physical health. Early adolescence is an especially important period in which peer influence and school environment strongly shape psychological development and maturation of core social-emotional regulatory functions. Yet, there is no integrated evidence based model of SPR in this age group to inform future research and practice. The current meta-analysis synthetizes evidence from 364 studies into an integrated model of potential determinants of SPR in early adolescence. The model encompasses links with 93 (...) variables referring to individual and environmental potential influences on SPR based on cross-sectional correlational data. Findings suggest the central importance of identity and social–emotional skills in SPR. School environment stands out as a compelling setting for future prevention programs. Finally, we underscore an alarming gap of research on the influence of the virtual and online environment on youth's social realm given its unquestionable importance as a globally expanding social interaction setting. Hence, we propose an integrated model that can serve as organizational framework, which may ultimately lead to the adoption of a more structured and integrated approach to understanding peer relationship processes in youth and contribute to overcoming marked fragmentation in the field. (shrink)

Contrary to what is stated in Lemma 7.1 of [8], it is shown that some Boolean algebras of finitary logic admit finitely additive probabilities that are not σ-additive. Consequences of Lemma 7.1 are reconsidered. The concept of a C-σ-additive probability on B (where B and C are Boolean algebras, and $\mathscr{B} \subseteq \mathscr{C}$ ) is introduced, and a generalization of Hahn's extension theorem is proved. This and other results are employed to show that every S̄(L)-σ-additive probability on s̄(L) can be (...) extended (uniquely, under some conditions) to a σ-additive probability on S̄(L), where L belongs to a quite extensive family of first order languages, and S̄(L) and s̄(L) are, respectively, the Boolean algebras of sentences and quantifier free sentences of L. (shrink)

For first order languages with no individual constants, empty structures and truth values (for sentences) in them are defined. The first order theories of the empty structures and of all structures (the empty ones included) are axiomatized with modus ponens as the only rule of inference. Compactness is proved and decidability is discussed. Furthermore, some well known theorems of model theory are reconsidered under this new situation. Finally, a word is said on other approaches to the whole problem.

Our daily lives unfold continuously, yet our memories are organised into distinct events, situated in a specific context of space and time, and chunked when this context changes (at event boundaries). Previous research showed that this process, termed event segmentation, enhances object-context binding but impairs temporal order memory. Physiologically, peaks in pupil dilation index event segmentation, similar to emotion-induced bursts of autonomic arousal. Emotional arousal also modulates object-context binding and temporal order memory. Yet, these two critical factors have not been (...) systematically studied together. To address this gap, we ran a behavioural experiment using a paradigm validated to study event segmentation and extended it with emotion manipulation. During encoding, we sequentially presented greyscale objects embedded in coloured frames (colour changes defining events), with a neutral or aversive sound. During retrieval, we tested participants’ memory of temporal order memory and object-colour binding. We found opposite effects of emotion and event segmentation on episodic memory. While event segmentation enhanced object-context binding, emotion impaired it. On the contrary, event segmentation impaired temporal order memory, but emotion enhanced it. These findings increase our understanding of episodic memory organisation in laboratory settings, and potentially in real life with perceptual changes and emotion fluctuations constantly interacting. (shrink)

To examine how different ownership structures, varying from diverse ownership bases to narrow ownership bases, influence the extent of corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting by companies in emerging market. The motivation for this study is the reported inconsistent results for this association in developing countries and the lack of research in emerging markets. Eight hundred observations of 80 nonfinancial sector listed companies in the Amman Stock Exchange for the period 2006 to 2015 were used for a content analysis to assess (...) the extent of CSR reporting. Ordinary least square multiple regression analysis was undertaken to examine the association between five different ownership structures and their extent of CSR reporting. The results reveal three separate associations between the types of ownership and the extent of CSR reporting. First, the two types of ownership (foreign and government) have a significant and positive influence on the extent of CSR reporting. Second, another two types of ownership (Family and managerial) have a significantly negative association. Finally, institutional ownership has an insignificant and negligible influence on the extent of CSR reporting. These findings provide insights into how ownership structure influences the CSR reporting extent by emerging market companies such as Jordan. These findings suggest that policy makers, regulatory bodies, companies, and investors should increase their awareness about how different concentration of company ownership influences the extent companies voluntarily disclose CSR reporting. The evidence adds to the limited body of knowledge about different ownership groups' influence on the extent of CSR reporting in a developing country because few empirical studies have undertaken such a comprehensive analysis of this association. (shrink)

Although informed consent is an integral part of clinical practice, its current doctrine remains mostly a matter of law and mainstream ethics rather than empirical research. There are scarce empirical data on patients’ perceived purpose of informed consent, which may include administrative routine/courtesy gesture, simple honest permission, informed permission, patient-clinician shared decision-making, and enabling patient’s self decision-making. Different purposes require different processes.

Companies that have joined the United Nations Global Compact are required to submit a Communication on Progress, which is an environmental, social, and governance report, to the UNGC every year. If they fail to do so, they are marked and listed as non-communicating on the UNGC website. Using the event study methodology, this study shows that a company that fails to report to the UNGC is penalized in the financial markets with an average cumulative abnormal return of −1.6% over a (...) period of 5 trading days around the event. Although a major critique against the UNGC is that the initiative’s voluntary nature and its lack of external monitoring and sanction mechanisms render it ineffective in terms of the business participants’ implementation of the UNGC principles into their operations, this result suggests that investors may be able to pressure UNGC business participants to increase their compliance with the UNGC requirements and to “walk the talk.”. (shrink)

This article explores Amartya Sen’s understanding of freedom, and performs two central functions, one classificatory and the other substantive in nature. First, I situate his reflections within canonical understandings of liberty, finding an irreducible pluralism incorporating positive liberty in ‘capability’ alongside negative and republican liberty in ‘process’, which is subsequently unified in the notion of ‘comprehensive outcomes’. Secondly, I attempt to find a normative referent for the intrinsic value of choice, and thereby indirectly that of freedom, in his account. In (...) contrast to the liberal subjectivity one might – I believe, mistakenly – attribute to Sen’s deployment of neoclassical economic frameworks, I instead argue for a re-interpretation of his account, inspired by the sociological literature on embodiment. Here, an ‘encumbered’ subject must inherit and transcend a normative totality to become an agent in the fullest sense. (shrink)

The paper depicts the blueprint of an electronic wise indicating system for demonstrating learning French to understudies to overcome the inconveniences they go up against. The fundamental idea of this structure is a proficient introduction into learning French. The system shows the purpose of learning French and coordinates thusly made issues for the understudies to clarify. The system is logically balanced at run time to the understudy’s individual progress. The system gives unequivocal help to adaptable presentation to learners.

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Finding PartnershipThe Benefit of Sharing and the Capacity for ComplexityMichaela Amering (bio)Keywordsrecovery, empowerment, trialog, user involvement, schizophreniaIs There Ignorance and Arrogance? In Psychiatry? In Medicine?Adding insight to injury' is the paraphrase psychiatrist Pat McGorry (1992) coined for his reproach of 'pushing for "insight" or "acceptance of diagnosis"' without carefully taking into account the complexities of the individual situation, context, and needs. That must be about the kind of behavior (...) Marga Reimer has in mind in her paper on treatment adherence in the absence of insight, which depicts mental health professionals characterized by arrogance against the common sense of motivating compliance by perceived or anticipated benefits on different everyday life levels, but instead trying to get people to believe in a mental illness such as schizophrenia and wishing them to want treatment for that in the form of medication.In addition, Reimer presents examples from general medicine to make her point that adherence follows perceived or anticipated benefits instead of being a result of insight into a medical model of illness and McGorry (1992) also suggests that disregard for the active role that patients may play as reflected in psychiatry in terms such as 'case management' and 'compliance' "is a failing which extends to mainstream medicine and probably to most systems of human service delivery." On the other hand, Bill Anthony (2006), one of the most eminent experts on psychiatric rehabilitation and recovery in a personal report on his own medical illness, multiple sclerosis—MS, and the assistance he has been receiving in connection with it, describes the 'MS-Community' as exemplary with respect to instilling courage and hope, continually providing information and opportunities for exchange, and for never questioning a person's ultimate freedom of choice. In contrary, in mental health care he does not experience the medical profession as acting with full respect and support for its patients and suggests a great deal more work and transformation—especially concerning coercive treatments—ahead to follow this example. Similarly, it has been suggested that psychiatry should be better integrated into medicine to overcome stigma and discrimination of psychiatric health problems and interventions. A pertinent example of an initiative in this direction is the proposal of a fusion of mental health and incapacity legislation to arrive at ethically consistent legal situations with regard to involuntary [End Page 77] treatment across medicine (Dawson and Szmukler 2006).Is There Something Called Schizophrenia? and How Much Longer?Reimer's main example—schizophrenia—is the diagnosis that poses some of the greatest problems to the field and to the recognition of psychiatry as a scientific medical discipline. The current concept as well as the term 'schizophrenia' will probably not be around much longer; 'a century of schizophrenia is enough' (Kelly and Murray 2002). Suggested solutions for the problems of the diagnosis of schizophrenia concern the urgent complement of the categorical with a dimensional approach (Allardyce et al. 2007), a change also put forward as one of the essential remedies to undermine the stigma of mental illness that is often exacerbated by clinical diagnosis (Corrigan 2007). Such a move would also clearly help against the still prevalent experiences of users of services and their families and friends, whose hopes and dreams have been crushed and whose resilience has been undermined by clinical situations, which in times of psychotic crises, not only forced diagnoses but also prognoses—often scientifically unfounded—on them (Amering and Schmolke 2009).Is There a Solution? Can We Use Our Talents? And Those of People With a Lived Experience of Mental Health Problems and Care?Clinicians as well as scientists know that health, illness, and recovery occur in complex ways and contexts. People faced with mental health problems clearly realize the complexities of their situation and are especially motivated to appreciate the variety of factors and interactions that need to be integrated to arrive at a valid assessment. Ideally, the therapeutic relationship—essentially a partnership—holds a formidable chance of sharing efforts and creating the wisdom for finding and facing the truths necessary to develop solutions that can uphold and work in line with the complexities of human life.I would argue that psychiatric professionals are certainly part... (shrink)

En étudiant la diversité des cultures, les « modernes » ont voulu transformer des traditions qu’ils supposaient cruelles, à l’image du sacrifice. Ces traditions, ils les disent encore archaïques notamment lorsqu’elles apparaissent comme « religieuses ». Les réformer semble encore faire partie d’une volonté de libération du monde. La critique de l’impérialisme pose une question clef à l’anthropologie. Pourquoi le mot de tradition est-il toujours synonyme de réaction, d’immobilisme voire de violence? Faut-il réellement voir dans la critique des dimensions impériales (...) et coloniales de la « modernité » une menace de la démocratie et des droits fondamentaux des hommes et des femmes? Cet article montre que ce que nous nommons « tradition » peut être défini comme un processus. Ce processus est indissociable de l’exercice du pouvoir : de l’autorité mais aussi de sa critique. La tradition est donc saisie comme un mouvement (auto)-critique qui atteste l’existence d’une justice. Ce qui échappe au modernisme comme au traditionalisme est la critique interne de la tradition. C’est de l’intérieur de la philosophie africaine que les linéaments d’une telle critique sont dessinés. (shrink)

n this paper, a non-classical axiomatic system was introduced to classify all moods of Aristotelian syllogisms, in addition to the axiom "Every a is an a" and the bilateral rules of obversion of E and O propositions. This system consists of only 2 definitions, 2 axioms, 1 rule of a premise, and moods of Barbara and Datisi. By adding first-degree propositional negation to this system, we prove that the square of opposition holds without using many of the other rules of (...) classical logic (including double negation elimination). We then show that the Propositional Substructural Logic SLe is the best logic to study Aristotelian Syllogisms. Also, based on the IFLe square of opposition, the rules of conversation and the rules of negation are completely proved in Muzaffar's logic. For this purpose, we used the monadic first-order logic with the same standard deductive apparatus of quantifiers in classical logic, plus the axioms of "some a is an a" and "some not-a is a not-a". Finally, to show that there is no existential commitment to general terms in categorical logic, the Strong Four-Valued Relevant-classical Logic KR4 was used. With the same existential interpretation of the quantifiers and the standard translation of the quarter quantified. (shrink)

Cet article montre que l’anthropologie religieuse est le point aveugle du marxisme. Il renvoie dos-à-dos l’athéisme communiste et les théologies de la révolution en les saisissant comme deux faces d’une même hégémonie biblique s’exerçant sur le langage des luttes d’émancipation. Il analyse ensuite la façon dont la construction croisée des concepts de religion et d’aliénation limite la critique du capitalisme et de l’État. La critique terrestre devrait donc être refondée si l’anthropologie qui la soutenait s’écroule.

Consideration of reference systems for semivalues leads us to a global representation of the action of a semivalue on a game. Using this representation, we show how to modify semivalues to take account of coalition structures on the player set. The players' allocations according to a semivalue, including a modified semivalue, can be computed by means of products of matrices obtained from the multilinear extension of the game.

Consideration of reference systems for semivalues leads us to a global representation of the action of a semivalue on a game. Using this representation, we show how to modify semivalues to take account of coalition structures on the player set. The players' allocations according to a semivalue, including a modified semivalue, can be computed by means of products of matrices obtained from the multilinear extension of the game.

Policies to promote the usage of energy-saving vehicles, such as electric vehicles and hybrids, were introduced and implemented in many countries due to increasing awareness of the potential benefits of such vehicles on environmental and energy conservation. However, despite consumers’ claims of their concerns and positive attitudes toward environmental issues, those claims have not been translated into energy-saving vehicles’ purchasing behavior. Prior studies neglected the interrelationship between consumer ethnocentrism, perceived value, and consumer knowledge in influencing consumer behavior, including pro-environmental behavior. (...) This study examines the relationship between CE, PV, CK, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, attitude and intention to purchase domestic energy-saving vehicles. A total of 396 completed questionnaires were collected through convenience sampling in Xuzhou, China. The survey data were subjected to descriptive analysis and analysis of variance using SPSS. In addition, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were utilized for the hypotheses testing. The results revealed that CE positively influenced PV and CK; PV and CK positively influenced PU and PEU. CK positively influenced PV, while PU and PEU positively influenced attitude and intention, and PEU was shown to influence PU. Furthermore, attitude was shown to significantly influence intention to purchase domestic energy-saving vehicles. Lastly, the theoretical and practical implications of the outcomes were discussed, including the limitations of the research. (shrink)

BackgroundOrgan donation has become one of the most effective ways to save lives and improve the quality of life for patients with end-stage organ failure. No previous studies have investigated the preferences for the different consenting options for organ donation in Egypt. This study aims to assess Egyptians’ preferences regarding consenting options for posthumous organ donation, and measure their awareness and acceptance of the Egyptian law articles regulating organ donation.MethodsA cross sectional study was conducted among 2743 participants over two years. (...) Each participant was required to rank eleven consenting options from 1 to 11, and to report his awareness and acceptance of the seven articles of the Egyptian law of organ donation.Results47% of the participants expressed willingness to donate their organs after death. This percentage increased to 78% when consenting options were explained to participants. “Informed consent by donor only” was the most preferred type of consent for one third of respondents. Awareness of the law articles regulating organ donation was relatively low ranging from 56% to 23%.ConclusionCurrently, around half of the Egyptian population agree to posthumous organ donation. This percentage could be increased significantly by raising the awareness about how the process of donation could be regulated and how the patient’s right of decision could be protected. (shrink)

Background Posthumous organ procurement is hindered by the consenting process. Several consenting systems have been proposed. There is limited information on public relative attitudes towards various consenting systems, especially in Middle Eastern/Islamic countries. Methods We surveyed 698 Saudi Adults attending outpatient clinics at a tertiary care hospital. Preference and perception of norm regarding consenting options for posthumous organ donation were explored. Participants ranked (1, most agreeable) the following, randomly-presented, options from 1 to 11: no-organ-donation, presumed consent, informed consent by donor-only, (...) informed consent by donor-or-surrogate, and mandatory choice; the last three options ± medical or financial incentive. Results Mean(SD) age was 32(9) year, 27% were males, 50% were patients’ companions, 60% had ≥ college education, and 20% and 32%, respectively, knew an organ donor or recipient. Mandated choice was among the top three choices for preference of 54% of respondents, with an overall median[25%,75%] ranking score of 3[2,6], and was preferred over donor-or-surrogate informed consent (4[2,7], p vs. 11[6,11], respectively, p = 0.002). Compared to females, males more perceived donor-or-surrogate informed consent as the norm (3[1,6] vs. 5[3,7], p vs. 8[4,9], p vs. 5[2,7], p Conclusions We conclude that: 1) most respondents were in favor of posthumous organ donation, 2) mandated choice system was the most preferred and presumed consent system was the least preferred, 3) there was no difference between preference and perception of norm in consenting systems ranking, and 4) financial (especially in females) and medical (especially in males) incentives reduced preference. (shrink)

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia which is estimated to impact 350,000 people over 65 years of age in Canada. The lack of effective treatment and the growing number of people who are expected to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in the near future are compelling reasons why continued research is in this area is necessary. With additional research, there needs to be greater recognition of the complexity of seeking ongoing informed consent from those with Alzheimer’s disease. (...) This complexity is because the impairment of memory and cognitive ability does not diminish in a linear manner, but rather fluctuates between periods of impairment and relatively normal cognitive lucidness. There is limited discussion in the guidelines of those progressing from early stages of Alzheimer’s disease who have intermittent cognitive function. Guidelines to research and Research Ethics Boards require further development to facilitate researcher including those with Alzheimer’s disease while protecting this growing pool of potential participants. (shrink)

ABSTRACT he paper examines the digital practices and discourses of the Islamic State when exploiting Social Media Communication environments to propagate their jihadist ideology and mobilise specific audiences. It draws on insights from Social Media Critical Discourse Studies, observational approaches, and visual content/semiotic analysis. The paper maintains the complementary nature of technological practice and discursive content in the process of meaning-making in digital jihadist discourse. The study shows that digital practices of strategic sharing, distribution and campaigns to re-upload textual materials (...) are made possible by exploiting SMC communicative affordances. As for the analysis of discursive content, the paper focuses on YouTube and highlights strategic patterns and covert references in an IS-produced flagship video. It illustrates how IS discourse constructs its envisaged in-group/outgroup by symbolising current events within historical, political and ideological conflict scenarios, i.e. the incessant resistance and legitimacy of forces of virtue vs evil. By foregrounding symbolic references to military outgroup actors, IS legitimises its own violence and projects a powerful self-identity against a global hegemony. The paper shows how the combination of a technologically savvy operation and a resistant, anti-hegemonic narrative, embedded in a strategically framed symbolism of Islam, may resonate with global -diasporic digital consumers. (shrink)

We examine the effects of leader–member exchange differentiation on team members’ outcomes by using team moral disengagement as a psychological mechanism mediating this relationship and LMX differentiation bases moderating the relationship. Analysis of multilevel data collected from 289 frontline employees organized into 76 finance-related customer service teams shows that LMX differentiation significantly reduced team moral disengagement only when the performance basis was high, and that the negative relationship between LMX differentiation and team moral disengagement was significant only when the personal (...) liking basis was low. Furthermore, we found that the LMX bases moderated the indirect effect of LMX differentiation on team members’ outcomes through team moral disengagement. The findings advance team moral disengagement as a novel mechanism for cross-level relationship between LMX differentiation and team members’ outcomes at the individual level, and project differentiation bases as a condition under which LMX differentiation unpacks the reasons for team members’ favorable or unfavorable responses. They reveal LMX differentiation as a complex and multifaceted phenomenon, whose essence can only be understood if examined from multiple levels. We also contribute to the literature by revealing the cognitive pathway through which LMX differentiation may be associated with team members outcomes. (shrink)

The risk of cigarette smoking plays a pivotal role in increasing the incidence rates of lung cancer. This paper sheds new light on modeling the impact of cigarette smoking on lung cancer evolution, especially genetic instability and the number of gene mutations in the genome of stem cells. To handle this issue, we have set up stochastic multi-stage models to fit the data set of the probabilities of current and former smokers from the Nurses’ Health Study cohort of females and (...) the Health Professionals Follow up Study cohort of men. Throughout this paper, we consider both mutation rates and clonal expansion rates as parameters in each compartment. For current and former smokers, three-driver mutations are most likely to take place in the progression of lung cancer under smoking risk. For current smokers, our findings reveal that two to sixteen gene mutations are required to obtain a cancerous cell among men and women in US. Moreover, two to six cancer-mutations are available in the pathway to lung cancer among former smokers who have quit smoking for more than ten years for both male and female patients. This highlights that cigarette smoking stimulates the number of driver mutations during lung tumorigenesis in both sexes. It is very crucial to examine the role of cigarette smoking in determining whether genomic instability is an early stage or late stage in the process of lung carcinogenesis. (shrink)

It is important to design digital infrastructure that can better accommodate multicultural and pluralistic views from its foundations. It is insufficient to look at only the responses and influences of culture on technology without considering how the technology can be adapted in anticipation of, and to support, pluralistic multicultural perspectives in its original design. This goes beyond the simple act of supporting multiple languages and interfaces, but should include the ability of digital and data infrastructure to capture and accommodate pluralistic (...) views, supporting multiple perspectives in the representation and processing of the data itself. In this work, we look at how rethinking the representation of data can allow us to more directly tackle domains that are typically hampered due to intercultural differences, and their inevitable losses in translation, particularly losses of valuable information like context and intention. When we refer to a loss of context and intention, we are referring to the loss of semantic information when practices such as referencing and citation are hard-coded to a particular set of cultural norms. We show that it is possible to expand the way in which we track referential data to capture richer semantic information regarding the contexts and intentions of the creators of this data, and thereby better serve the varied needs of those who consume, study, and refer to such data. We demonstrate this concept through a prototype system for a multicultural digital infrastructure, which we have namedMultiVerse, and discuss its ethical implications from the perspectives of ‘multistability’, Intercultural Information Ethics framework, and poststructuralism. (shrink)

Internet-of-Things (IoT) creates a significant impact in spectrum sensing, information retrieval, medical analysis, traffic management, etc. These applications require continuous information to perform a specific task. At the time, various intermediate attacks such as jamming, priority violation attacks, and spectrum poisoning attacks affect communication because of the open nature of wireless communication. These attacks create security and privacy issues while making data communication. Therefore, a new method autoencoder deep neural network (AENN) is developed by considering exploratory, evasion, causative, and priority (...) violation attack. The created method classifies the transmission outcomes used to predict the transmission state, whether it is jam data transmission or sensing data. After that, the sensing data is applied for network training that predicts the intermediate attacks. In addition to this, the channel access algorithm is used to validate the channel for every access that minimizes unauthorized access. After validating the channel according to the neural network, data have been transmitted over the network. The defined process is implemented, and the system minimizes different attacks on various levels of energy consumption. The effectiveness of the system is implemented using TensorFlow, and the system ensures the 99.02% of detection rate when compared with other techniques. (shrink)

En essayant d’imposer à la Terre entière son modèle de développement fondé sur les énergies fossiles, l’Europe a contribué fortement au réchauffement de la planète. Dès 1844 en Allemagne, l’Union des pays d’Europe, plutôt de langue allemande, a été perçue comme indispensable à la colonisation concertée du monde. L’Allemagne se voyait comme le centre de cet Empire, auquel la Grande-Bretagne ne pourrait que se rallier. Le premier acte de cet empire européen serait la destruction de l’empire ottoman. Mais l’Union euro-impériale (...) à l’échelle mondiale a été rendue impossible par la dissémination coloniale. Le fantasme impérial n’en continue pas moins de hanter les esprits européens. (shrink)

This article sketches an archaeology of the racial divide between North Africa and “Black Africa” by examining how it belongs to the emergence of modern geography during the nineteenth century. It argues that the de-Africanization of North Africa is inseparable from the racial identi????ication of “Africa proper”—to quote Hegel’s word—with a dehumanizing concept of Blackness. The second part of the article tries to move beyond archaeology in order to analyze counter-geographies of decolonization. It does so by focussing on the ways (...) in which the continental Pan-Africanism of the Algerian revolution has deployed a practical criticism of the divide between North and Black Africa through Fanon. (shrink)

L’article cherche à produire la généalogie de l’injonction faite aux musulmans de réformer l’islam pour s’intégrer aux sociétés laïques européennes. L’hypothèse défendue consiste à montrer que cette injonction s’enracine dans certains aspects de l’histoire coloniale. Ce sont des conseillers de l’Empire français qui considéraient une réforme laïque de l’islam comme la condition sine qua non de l’acquisition de la citoyenneté. La réforme de l’islam était alors censée rendre l’indigène digne d’être citoyen. L’article tente de conceptualiser les résurgences actuelles de cette (...) injonction à la réforme comme le retour d’un spectre qui est plus impérial que colonial. (shrink)

L’article, pensé « à chaud » après la tragédie qui a commencé à Paris le 7 janvier 2015, cherche à substituer un vocabulaire alternatif d’analyse des événements aux proclamations de certains politiques – souvent vides et hypocrites – appelant à « éviter l’amalgame ». Il montre qu’il est nécessaire de pluraliser et de complexifier notre lexique pour désigner des phénomènes qui relèvent avant tout du politique et des crises d’un monde commun et profane. L’article s’achève en ouvrant une perspective d’analyse (...) socio-historique sur la façon dont la racialisation de l’« islam » et du « religieux » rejoue un refoulé colonial. (shrink)

Une dizaine de thèses contre la liquidation sommaire des « religions » opérée par les descendants de Feuerbach aident à réinterpréter l’Anthropocène comme étant un Sécularocène. Et si le Ciel qui menace désormais de brûler notre planète était celui-là même que nous avons cru pouvoir enterrer trop insolemment? Et si le rapport actuel de la République à l’islam illustrait dramatiquement cette insolence?

Ce texte, écrit à la suite des attentats du 11 septembre 2001, tente de redéfinir les notions de laïcité et de sécularisme en marge des grands récits de sécularisation. La modernité laïque n’est ni la simple séparation du politique et du religieux, ni ce qui reste lorsque la religion décline ou s’efface. Dès lors que le concept de « religion » renvoie lui-même à une construction historique qui diffère selon les espaces politiques, l’on doit affirmer que la modernité laïque est (...) la production d’un nouveau partage entre le religieux et le politique, d’une redéfinition de ce qu’est censé être la « religion » et, avec elle, l’éthique et la politique. Le texte discute ensuite le libéralisme politique de Charles Taylor de façon critique. L’unité de la modernité politique n’est pas factuelle, c’est l’unité d’un projet moderne : elle a un but politique dont l’hégémonie se lit dans le fait que les peuples extra-européens sont perpétuellement invités à s’y mesurer. Cette analyse dessine enfin la voie d’une anthropologie du sécularisme défini comme une doctrine qui cherche à émanciper la sphère publique d’un religieux oppressif, mais aussi et surtout comme une forme de vie laïque : un ensemble d’attitudes spécifiques, un certain rapport au corps et à la souffrance ainsi qu’un modèle de subjectivité. (shrink)

Il contributo intende discutere alcune questioni legate alla diversa visione del profeta dell'Islam in una prospettiva interculturale. In particolare si tentano di evidenziare le radici del problema concentrandosi sullo contesto storico in cui la questione ha preso forma. Emerge una critica alla maggior parte degli studiosi arabi che, storicamente, hanno evitato di affrontare lo studio di fonti non musulmane che potessero proporre visioni contrastanti rispetto alle credenze religiose condivise. Il contributo ha affrontato quindi il problema della traduzione di opere letterarie (...) occidentali in arabo, in particolare le opere in cui è implicata l’immagine del profeta dell'Islam: emerge una censura piuttosto diffusa che tende a omettere le parti considerate "offensive" per la sensibilità religiosa dei musulmani. La Divina Commedia di Dante Alighieri rappresenta il caso esemplare di questo atteggiamento. Obbiettivo del contributo è affrontare il concetto di diversità in modo costruttivo in modo da non nascondere i fatti attraverso la censura o la non conoscenza ma invocando un nuovo modo di confrontarsi nel contesto multiculturale.This paper discusses the frequent intercultural problems related to the different cross-cultural vision of the prophet of Islam. In particular, the paper highlights the roots of the problem; in fact, focusing on the historical background of the problem is extremely important. Moreover, the paper delivered criticism to the majority of Arab scholars who, historically, seemed to lack the willingness to study non Muslim sources that have a contradicting vision to their believes. The paper tackled the issue of the translation of western literary works into Arabic, especially those that tackles the image of the prophet of Islam, where the Arabic translation usually skip any “offensive” part related to the image of the prophet. For example, The divine comedy of Dante Alighieri. The paper tries to face the concept of diversity in constructive way, by never hiding the facts, as this can never be considered a solution, but a way to transform it into a very complex problem. (shrink)

The political landscape in Malaysia has been changing since the late 1990s with a gradual rise in resistance from civil society and the opposition parties. Domestic politics have become more contentious recently, particularly evidenced by the advent of a strong civil society and a multi-cultural opposition coalition. Thus, the social capital stimulated by ICTs and CSOs has played a vital role in strengthening and empowering the role of the opposition parties in Malaysia. This study seeks to understand how ICT-driven social (...) capital has facilitated the surge in the opposition movement by situating the political use of social capital in a broader socio-political context. Hence the dramatic political change has been intertwined with the dynamics of social capital and creation of a public sphere accelerated by the rapid growth of ICTs in the country. By analyzing recent voting patterns, this study demonstrates that ICT-driven social capital does have a great impact on the changing political landscape in Malaysia, particularly in shaping voting behavior and political participation of Malay and non-Malay citizens in domestic politics. (shrink)

Background:Suicide remains an important cause of premature deaths and draws much media attention. However, unsafe reporting and portrayal of suicides by the media have been associated with increased risk of suicidal behavior. Current evidence suggests that media capacity-building could potentially prevent suicide. However, there are still knowledge gaps in terms of a lack of data on effective strategies for improving awareness and safe reporting of suicide-related media content. This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of a workshop conducted with members (...) of the media community on the safe reporting of suicide-related content.Methods:An interventional single-arm pre and post pilot study was conducted on a sample of the Malaysian media community recruited through purposive and snowball sampling. The media safe reporting workshop was conducted by a suicide prevention expert with a media industry background. Thirty participants completed a self-reported evaluation questionnaire on their awareness and knowledge of reporting on suicide-related media content; before and after the interventional workshop.Results:There was a significant difference between the total scores before and after the intervention, with a large effect size. Post-intervention scores were significantly improved in 8 items, namely those related to the reporting of: (i) the content of any suicide note; (ii) headlines with methods of suicide; (iii) headlines with the location of suicide; (iv) cases of suspected suicide despite the unconfirmed cause of death; (v) suicide news to cater to readers’ interests; (vi) cause of suicide; (vii) details of the location of suicide; and (viii) the negative impact to media community when reporting suicide stories. In particular, there was an improvement in the majority of items for people from the media community with no lived experience of suicidal behavior.Conclusion:The media safe reporting workshop is a potentially effective intervention for improving awareness and knowledge measures relating to safe reporting on suicide among the media community, with a more pronounced effect in those without lived experience of suicidal behavior. Limitations in the sample size, generalizability, short-term evaluation, and lack of a control group warrant future larger, longer-term controlled, and more representative studies. (shrink)

The objective of this paper is to outline challenges associated with the inclusion of welfare issues in breeding goals for farm animals and to review the currently available methodologies and discuss their potential advantages and limitations to address these challenges. The methodology for weighing production traits with respect to cost efficiency and market prices are well developed and implemented in animal breeding goals. However, these methods are inadequate in terms of assessing proper values of traits with social and ethical values (...) such as animal welfare, because such values are unlikely to be readily available from the product prices and costs in the market. Defining breeding goals that take animal welfare and ethical concerns into account, therefore, requires new approaches. In this paper we suggest a framework and an approach for defining breeding goals, including animal welfare. The definition of breeding goals including values related to animal welfare requires a multidisciplinary approach with a combination of different methods such as profit equations, stated preference techniques, and selection index theory. In addition, a participatory approach involving different stakeholders such as breeding organizations, food authorities, farmers, and animal welfare organizations should be applied. We conclude that even though these methods provide the necessary tools for considering welfare issues in the breeding goal, the practical application of these methods is yet to be achieved. (shrink)

The goals of vascular composite allotransplantation for hand are to maximize functional status and psychosocial wellbeing and to improve quality of life. Candidates are carefully vetted by transplant programs through an extensive evaluation process to exclude those patients with contraindications and to select those that are most likely to attain functional or quality of life benefit from transplant. Patient choice for any treatment, however, requires that candidates be able to understand the risks, benefits, and alternatives before choosing to proceed. This (...) study aimed to understand patients’ knowledge and perceptions about treatment options for hand loss, including hand transplant. This study will be used to inform a standardized education approach and develop conversation aids for use by clinicians and patients throughout the treatment decision process. Ten individuals who had experienced hand amputation or had congenital limb loss were interviewed to better understand previous and current decisions about treatment, experiences in adjusting to their treatment, and perceptions about hand VCA. From this qualitative interview data, four findings emerged: knowledge and education around VCA as a treatment option; adaptation of individuals with limb loss; fear of risk associated with transplantation; issues of aging and overuse injuries to existing limbs. Results suggests that there is opportunity for expanding education about all treatment options for patients with new loss, long-term loss, and congenital limb loss. Establishing a baseline of knowledge about all options–prosthetics, rehabilitative strategies, and VCA—can help patients evaluate their values and goals of treatment. Issues associated with aging, including overuse and injury, and adaptability over the life course should be included in considerations about treatment choices. Data indicate the need for routinely assessing patient preferences about treatment choice so patients can plan for their future as they adapt and age and as technology for treatments change. To assure that thorough information is provided for current and future decision-making, education about treatment choices and selection procedures for VCA should be standardized. (shrink)

Reconstructive allografts using Vascularized Composite Allotransplantation are providing individuals living with upper limb loss and facial disfigurement with new opportunities for a sensate, esthetically acceptable, and functional alternative to current treatment strategies. Important research attention is being paid to how best to assess and screen candidates for VCA, measure optimal patient outcomes, and support patient adherence to lifelong behaviors and medical regimens. Far less attention, however, has been dedicated to the team science required for these complex VCA teams to form, (...) prepare, and provide the highest quality clinical and psychosocial care to those receiving VCA. VCA teams are unique in that they require specialized team members whose scope of practice may not otherwise overlap. The team also needs to constantly negotiate balancing patient safety with multiple risks throughout the transplant process. This study aimed to elucidate the team science needed for this highly innovative and complex area of medicine. Using in-depth qualitative interviews with 14 VCA team members and observations at team meetings, we found that careful consideration of team composition, team structure, and organizational commitment influences team performance and patient outcomes, but that to be efficient and truly effective, teams need to commit to developing processes that foster collaboration. These processes are action-oriented, strategic and interpersonal. Dedication and commitment to team science allows teams to manage conflict under stress and exercise ways to leverage strengths to provide optimal performance or patient psychosocial and clinical outcomes. This study can provide insight into quality improvement efforts for VCA teams and guidance for other transplant programs that wish to consider expansion into VCA. (shrink)

Radiography images are widely utilized in the health sector to recognize the patient health condition. The noise and irrelevant region information minimize the entire disease detection accuracy and computation complexity. Therefore, in this study, statistical Kolmogorov–Smirnov test has been integrated with wavelet transform to overcome the de-noising issues. Then the cat swarm-optimized deep belief network is applied to extract the features from the affected region. The optimized deep learning model reduces the feature training cost and time and improves the overall (...) disease detection accuracy. The network learning process is enhanced according to the AdaDelta learning process, which replaces the learning parameter with a delta value. This process minimizes the error rate while recognizing the disease. The efficiency of the system evaluated using image retrieval in medical application dataset. This process helps to determine the various diseases such as breast, lung, and pediatric studies. (shrink)

The obscured Thomas precessionof the special theory of relativity (STR) has been soared into prominence by exposing the mathematical structure, called a gyrogroup,to which it gives rise [A. A. Ungar, Amer. J. Phys.59,824 (1991)], and the role that it plays in the study of Lorentz groups [A. A. Ungar, Amer. J. Phys.60,815 (1992); A. A. Ungar, J. Math. Phys.35,1408 (1994); A. A. Ungar, J. Math. Phys.35,1881 (1994)]. Thomas gyrationresults from the abstraction of Thomas precession.As such, its study sheds (...) light on relativistic velocity spaces and their symmetries which are concealed in Thomas precession. In order to uncover new properties of relativistic gyrogroups, we employ in this article the group theoretic concepts of divisible groupsand two-torsion free groupsto construct midpointsin gyrogroups. Systems of successive midpoints then describe straight gyrolinesand suggest a new, natural distance function that involves a Thomas gyration. These, in turn, reveal a new, interesting geometry that underlies relativistic velocity spaces. In this resulting gyrogeometrythe straight gyrolines form geodesics under a distance function which turns out to be the Poincaré hyperbolic distance function relaxed by a Thomas gyration. These geodesics do obey the parallel axiom of Euclidean geometry. Ironically, (i) attempts to understand the parallel postulate of Euclidean geometry gave rise to hyperbolic geometry in which the parallel postulate disappears;(ii) hyperbolic geometry gave rise to Einstein's STR; (iii) Einstein's STR established the bizarre and counterintuitive relativistic effect called Thomas precession, the abstraction of which is called Thomas gyration; and (iv) Thomas gyration now repairs in this article the Poincaré distance function of hyperbolic geometry to the point where the parallel postulate reappears. (shrink)

This paper argues (i) that the possibility of experiencing at once pleasures and unpleasures does not threaten the contrariety of pleasure and unpleasure. (ii) That the hedonic balance calculated by adding all pleasures and displeasures of a subject at a time yields an abstract result that does not correspond to any new psychological reality. There are no resultant feelings. (iii) That there are nevertheless, in some cases, sentimental fusions: when the co-occurent pleasures and unpleasures do not have any bodily location, (...) and that their intentional object vanishes, they truly fuse with each other, giving rise to sentimental mixtures in which the initial pleasures and unpleasures are no longer discernible. (shrink)

Resumen Investigación parcial del proyecto El escepticismo pirrónico-empírico y el escepticismo académico en su desarrollo histórico […] (EPADMECO) donde se explora la obra de las autoras contemporáneas Ghada Amer y Chiharu Shiota quienes han resignificado el hilo como elemento gráfico del dibujo expandido (línea bordada y en el espacio) para crear un discurso escéptico: imágenes artísticas que inducen a la duda, al conocimiento, en contraposición a las dogmáticas que nos invaden desde la posverdad. Parte del estudio de campo resultado (...) de estancias de investigación en el Centro Nacional de Arte Contemporáneo Reina Sofía y el Museo Nacional de Artes Decorativas. (shrink)