Construction cost estimation is one of the essential processes in construction management. Project cost is a complex engineering problem due to various factors affecting the construction industry. Accurate cost estimation is important in construction management and significantly impacts project performance. Artificial intelligence models have been effectively implemented in construction management studies in recent years owing to their capability to deal with complex problems. In this research, extreme gradient boosting is developed as an advanced input selector algorithm and coupled with three (...) AI models, including random forest, artificial neural network, and support vector machine for cost estimation. Datasets were gathered based on a survey conducted on 90 building projects in Iraq. Statistical indicators and graphical methods were used to evaluate the developed models. Several input predictors were used, and XGBoost highlighted inflation as the most crucial parameter. The results indicated that the best prediction was attained by XGBoost-RF using six input parameters, with r-squared and the mean absolute percentage error equal to 0.87 and 0.25, respectively. The comparison results revealed that all AI models showed good prediction performance when applied to datasets affected by more than two parameters. The outcomes of this research revealed an optimistic strategy that can help decision makers select the influencing parameters in the early phases of project management. Also, developing a prediction model with high precision results can assist the project’s estimators in decreasing the errors in the cost estimation process. (shrink)

The necessity of having effective and socially sound networks is trivial. It is clear that information technology is now a necessary tool that has well understood advantages. The same technology carries negative side-effects. It is our social and ethical duty to examine the possibly negative side effects of IT, especially as IT becomes prevalent in a conservative society such as Kuwait. In our research Kuwait forms a case study as we try to understand what ethical theories underlie the attitude toward (...) one problematic aspect of IT, online pornography, in Muslim/Arab societies. In this paper we review several ethical theories and then present the results of experimental research aimed at determining the concepts that underlie the Kuwaiti response to pornography online. (shrink)

The idea for an Internet of Things has matured since its inception as a concept in 1999. People today speak openly of a Web of Things and People, and even more broadly of an Internet of Everything. As our relationships become more and more complex and enmeshed, through the use of advanced technologies, we have pondered on ways to simplify flows of communications, to collect meaningful data, and use them to make timely decisions with respect to optimisation and efficiency. At (...) their core, these flows of communications are pathways to registers of interaction, and tell the intricate story of outputs at various units of analysis- things, vehicles, animals, people, organisations, industries, even governments. In this trend toward evidence-based enquiry, data is the enabling force driving the growth of IoT infrastructure. This paper uses the case of location-based services, which are integral to IoT approaches, to demonstrate that new technologies are complex in their effects on society. Fundamental to IoT is the spatial element, and through this capability, the tracking and monitoring of everything, from the smallest nut and bolt, to the largest shipping liner to the mapping of planet earth, and from the whereabouts of the minor to that of the prime minister. How this information is stored, who has access, and what they will do with it, is arguable depending on the stated answers. In this case study of location-based services we concentrate on control and trust, two overarching themes that have been very much neglected, and use the outcomes of this research to inform the development of a socio-ethical conceptual framework that can be applied to minimise the unintended negative consequences of advanced technologies. We posit it is not enough to claim objectivity through information ethics approaches alone, and present instead a socio-ethical impact framework. Sociality therefore binds together that higher ideal of praxis where the living thing is the central and most valued actor of a system. (shrink)

Currently, health systems research is reviewed by the same ethical standards as clinical research, which has recently been argued in the literature to be an inappropriate standard of evaluation. The issues unique to HSR warrant a different review by research ethics committees, as it does not impose the same risks to study participants as other types of clinical or public health research. However, there are limited tools and supporting documents that clarify the ethical considerations. Therefore, there is a need for (...) additional reflection around ethical review of HSR and their consideration by RECs. The purpose of this paper is to review, understand, and synthesize the current state of literature and practice to inform these deliberations and the larger discourse on ethics review guidelines for HSR. This paper presents a review of the literature on ethics of HSR in the biomedical, public health, and implementation research to identify ethical considerations specific to HSR; and to identify examples of commonly available guidance and/or tools for the ethical review of HSR studies. Fifteen articles were identified on HSR ethics issues, and forty-two international academic institutions were contacted, no institution had special ethical guidelines for reviewing HSR) about their HSR ethics review guidelines. There appears to be a clear gap in the current health research ethics discourse around health systems research ethics. This review serves as a first step towards a larger dialogue on the topic. (shrink)

The Holy Qur’an relates believers’ pure emotions to brotherhood. From the perspective of Islam, it has been also affirmed that two people have the same thoughts and opinions in one centre point of love in brotherhood, so fraternal feelings are not merely limited to kinship and consanguinity. In this line, the Holy Qur’an states that we have come to make you brothers with each other; not a brotherhood from parents, but an Islamic one, which is highly appreciated in the Islamic (...) society. In addition, a believing brother can never be filled when his fellow believer is hungry, and he cannot be clothed while the other is with nothing on. Islam further considers all Muslims as one family and calls everyone brothers and sisters or siblings. The true Muslims of any race and tribe as well as any language and age thus have a deep sense of brotherhood with each other, even if one lives in the Eastern parts of the world and the other in the West. In sum, this article aimed to investigate the role of religious teachings in strengthening believers’ brotherhood in the Islamic society. For this purpose, firstly, the definition of religious brotherhood was provided; secondly, religious brotherhood has been described based on the Holy Qur’an.Contribution: This article helped gain a new insight into the role of Islamic teachings in strengthening religious brotherhood in the Islamic society. Besides, the indicators of religious brotherhood were extracted and then enlightened according to the Ayat (viz. verses) from the Holy Qur’an. (shrink)

The present study examined effects of sociodemographic, risk, and resilience factors on marital, parental, and financial stress early in the COVID-19 pandemic. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among 480 married Palestinians living in Israel, using self-report questionnaires. Descriptive statistics and bivariate correlations were computed. Then, hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted to predict each of the three stress measures. Finally, dominance analyses were conducted to compare the contributions of sociodemographic, risk, and resilience factors. The results showed considerable differences between (...) predictors of marital and parental stress and predictors of financial stress. For marital and parental stress, resilience factors mainly family resilience were the strongest predictors, followed by risk factors and then sociodemographic characteristics. For financial stress, risk factors were the strongest predictors, followed by sociodemographic characteristics and resilience factors. These results suggest that family and individual resilience reduce marital and parental stress under difficult conditions, including the COVID-19 pandemic. Though resilience has been found to ameliorate financial stress to some extent, it appears that other measures are required to manage stress related to financial difficulties. (shrink)

Given that health systems research involves different aims, approaches, and methodologies as compared to more traditional clinical trials, the ethical issues present in HSR may be unique or particularly nuanced. This article outlines eight pertinent ethical issues that are particularly salient in HSR and argues that the ethical review process should be better tailored to ensure more efficient and appropriate oversight of HSR with adequate human protections, especially in low- and middle-income countries. The eight ethical areas we discuss include the (...) nature of intervention, types of research subjects, units of intervention and observation, informed consent, controls and comparisons, risk assessment, inclusion of vulnerable groups, and benefits of research. HSR involving human participants is necessary to ensure health systems strengthening and quality of care and to guide public policy intelligently. Health systems researchers must carefully define their intent and goals and openly clarify the values that may influence the premises and design of protocols. As new types of population-level research activities become more commonplace, it is critical that institutional review board and research ethics committee review processes evolve to evaluate these research protocols in ways that address the nuanced features of these studies. (shrink)

With the advancement of internet and the emergence of network globalization, security has always been a major concern. During the trial operation, the management control platform discussed in this article included more than 600 network security vulnerabilities in the industry, with dozens of incidents, which were promptly dealt with and rectified, effectively improving the level of network security management and protection in the industry. As networks are very much vulnerable to denial of service attacks, much more emphasis has been given (...) to security. By improving their network security, network administrators have often tried their best. To attempt penetration testing, it is the best way of ensuring the system security. With the development of information technology, the security requirement of information system is increasing day by day. The use of penetration testing technology is conducive to the realization of accurate positioning, accurate detection, and active alarm of security vulnerabilities, and the optimization of monitoring and rectification of the combination of network security management control system. Taking penetration testing technology as one of the core elements of management and control, the risk index model is optimized to make network security management controllable and efficient, and effectively achieve management and control objectives. (shrink)

Clark1880, WGS1984, and ITRF08 are the reference systems used in Iraq. The ITRF08 and WGS84 represent the global reference frames. In the majority of instances, the transformation from one coordinate system to another is required. The ability of the artificial neural network to identify the connection between two coordinate systems without the need for a mathematical model is one of its most significant benefits. In this study, an ANN was employed for two-dimensional coordinate transformation from local Clark1880 to the global (...) reference system ITRF08. To accomplish so, 68 stations with known coordinates in both systems were utilized in this research and were split into two groups: the first set of data was used as the training data and the second set of data was used as the validation data. A root-mean-square error was used to examine the performance of each transformation. The results showed that the RMSE using the ANN was 0.08 m in the east and 0.17 m in the north. The results indicated that the ANN can be used for 2D coordinate transformation with the results that are better than those of the authorized techniques such as 2D conformal transformation and 2D conformal least square. (shrink)

Philosophical study of revelation in religion, chiefly in Islam.

Language and languages; linguistics; Arabic language; sufism.

al-juzʼ al-awwal. rubʻ al-ʻibādāt wa-rubʻ al-ʻādāt wa-yashtamil ʻalá al-manhaj, al-ʻaqāʼid, al-ʻibādāt, al-muʻāmālāt, al-ādāb-- al-juzʼ al-thānī.

Ṣadr al-Dīn Shīrāzī, Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm, -1641. Asfār al-arbaʻah fī al-ḥikmah. ; Islamic philosophy -- Iran.

In the Phillipps Library at Cheltenham there is a MS. of the Epitome which Professor Thewrewk was unable to use for his edition. No one who knows the difficulties which attend the study of MSS. in this Library will blame him for the omission. The Phillippsianus has the form usual in codices of the Epitome , a quarto volume with two columns to the page, and with each article occupying a separate paragraph and beginning with a fairly large initial letter. (...) It was written by Ellinger , during his previous stay at Altaich, as is shown by the subscription in capital letters which stands at the end of the whole volume, : Abbas indignus ego Ellinger peccator istam glosam scripsi dum essem in Altahensi monasterio Deo sanctoque Quirino. Rogo vos omnes in ea legentes ut oretis pro me. (shrink)

Çalışmada İslam tefsir geleneğinin erken dönem müfessirlerinden biri olan Mâtürîdî’nin (ö.333/944) İbn Abbas (ö. 68/687-688) rivayetlerine yaklaşımı incelenmektedir. Bilindiği üzere onun kaleme aldığı Te’vîlâtü’l-Kur’an, dirayet ağırlıklıdır. Ancak eserdeki dirayet içerikli yorumları rivayetten yoksun değildir. Zira tefsirinde az da olsa Hz. Peygambere isnad edilen rivayetlere, bolca sahabe ve tabiine ait rivayetlere rastlanır. Sahabe nesli içerisinde tefsirde ilk sırada yer alan İbn Abbas, Te’vîlâtü’l-Kur’an’da da rivayet sayısı bakımından ilk sırayı korumaktadır. Tespitimize göre bu eserde İbn Abbas’a ait 579 rivayet (...) vardır. Bu sayıyla İbn Abbas Te’vîlâtü’l-Kur’an’da sahabe arasında ilk sırada yer almaktadır. Bu eserde İbn Abbas’ın önemi aslında rivayet bakımından ilk sırada yer almasıyla ilgili değildir. Mâtürîdî’ye göre genelde sahabenin, özelde İbn Abbas’ın tefsirde ayrı bir önemi vardır. Zira o, tefsiri sahabeye özgü bir alan olarak görmektedir. Bilindiği üzere Mâtürîdî, tefsir te’vil ayrımı yapmakta, tefsirin sahabeye te’vilin ise alimlere ait olduğunu söylemektedir. Onun bu yaklaşımı çalışmada Te’vîlâtü’l-Kur’an’daki İbn Abbas’a ait 579 rivayet üzerinden incelenmektedir. Çalışma iki kısımdan oluşmaktadır. İlk kısımda Mâtürîdî tefsirindeki İbn Abbas rivayetleri biçim ve içerik açısından tanıtılmaktadır. Rivayetlerin uzun veya kısa oluşu, ayet içerip içermemesi, İbn Abbas’ın senedde her zaman sözün sahibi değil, Hz. Peygamberin sözünü aktaran biri olarak yer alması ona ait rivayetlerin biçimsel yönü olarak görülebilir. Rivayetlerin Te’vîlâtü’l-Kur’an’daki görünümü de bu bağlamda ele alınabilir. Bu hususta önce Mâtürîdî’nin İbn Abbas rivayetleri için hem te’vil hem tefsir ifadesini kullandığını belirtmeliyiz. O tefsirinin genelinde sadece sözü söyleyenin ismini zikrederek senedin geriye kalan kısmını hazfettiği için tefsirinde senedin yer alış biçimi üzerinde durma imkânı yoktur. Rivayetin metin kısmını ise Mâtürîdî bazen olduğu gibi alıntılamakta bazen özetlemekte bazen de başkasına ait sözü zikrettikten sonra İbn Abbas’a ait sözün, aktardığı söze benzediğini söylemekle yetinmektedir. Te’vîlâtü’l-Kur’an’da İbn Abbas’a ait rivayetlerin içeriğine gelince rivayetler, hurûf-ı mukattaa, sebeb-i nüzul, kıraat, nesh gibi Kur’an ilimleri, kelime açıklamaları, ayet yorumları şeklinde sınıflandırılabilir. O ayetin bazen bir kesitini bazen bütününü yorumlamakta, yorumlarını nüzul dönemi veya sonrası olaylar ile ilişkilendirebilmektedir. Çalışmanın ilk kısmı bu çerçevededir. İkinci kısımda ise Mâtürîdî’nin İbn Abbas rivayetlerini ayeti yorumlamada kullanışı ele alınmaktadır. Te’vîlâtü’l-Kur’an’a bu açıdan bakıldığında Mâtürîdî’nin farklı tavırlar sergilediği rahatlıkla görülebilir. Zira o, bir âyetin yorumu için İbn Abbas’ın görüşünü bazen benimsemekte, kendi görüşüne dayanak etmekte, bazen başka rivayet zikretmeksizin onun rivayetiyle yetinmekte, bazen onun rivayetini diğer rivayetler içerisine almakta ancak bunlara ilişkin bir değerlendirme yapmamaktadır. Bunun yanı sıra o bazen İbn Abbas tefsirini tercih etmemekte hatta eleştirmektedir. Mâtürîdî’nin İbn Abbas’ın yaptığı yorumu gereksiz gördüğü yerler de bulunmaktadır. (shrink)