Fifty years after Loving v. Virginia, oppositional attitudes toward interracial relationships are still advanced by religious institutions in the United States. Extant social science literature characterizes these attitudes as generated largely by Evangelical and Christian nationalist traditions where members harbor negative attitudes toward interracial relationships. Hidden behind this characterization are the significant, but less obvious ways in which non-Evangelical denominations construct and disseminate similar attitudes. Through discourse analysis and digital interviews with LDS women of color, this study uses the Church (...) of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as an entry point for examining intermarriage discourses in other faith traditions. Findings highlight that LDS messaging about interracial relationships shifted over time, integrating multiple racial frames in ways that expanded the scope of LDS racism with especially harsh implications for LDS women of color. Broader theoretical implications for the study of race, gender, and religion are discussed. (shrink)

Polycystic kidney disease (PKD) is one of the most prevalent causes of heritable renal failure. The disease is characterized by the occurrence of numerous fluid‐filled cysts within the parenchyma of kidney. The cysts are epithelial in origin and expand in size, leading to crowding of normal kidney tissue. Ultimately, there is gross enlargement of the kidneys with loss of normal functions, and death usually occurs because of complications related to renal failure. Animal models of polycystic kidney disease are proving to (...) be extremely useful for studying the molecular basis of renal cyst formation and for the isolation of genes carrying the mutations. This article describes the various animal models of polycystic kidney disease, spontaneously and experimentally derived, that have recently been identified. (shrink)

Descriptive Experience Sampling (DES) is a method for exploring inner experience. DES subjects carry a random beeper in natural environments; when the beep sounds, they capture their inner experience, jot down notes about it, and report it to an investigator in a subsequent expositional interview. DES is a fundamentally idiographic method, describing faithfully the pristine inner experiences of persons. Subsequently, DES can be used in a nomothetic way to describe the characteristics of groups of people who share some common characteristic. (...) This paper describes DES and compares it to Petitmengin’s [Phenomenol Cogn Sci, this issue] second-person interview method. (shrink)

Unsymbolized thinking—the experience of an explicit, differentiated thought that does not include the experience of words, images, or any other symbols—is a frequently occurring yet little known phenomenon. Unsymbolized thinking is a distinct phenomenon, not merely, for example, an incompletely formed inner speech or a vague image, and is one of the five most common features of inner experience . Despite its high frequency, many people, including many professional students of consciousness, believe that such an experience is impossible. However, because (...) the existence of unsymbolized thinking indicates that much experienced thinking takes place without any experience of words or other symbols, acknowledging the existence of unsymbolized thinking may have substantial theoretical import. (shrink)

Evolution of fintech services and the adoption of new emerging technology is what is seen in today’s world. Very few researchers have studies on the factors that affect the adoption of fintech services and how human behavior varies as technology changes. Apart from this, the advancement in mobile phones and the increase in the usage of them have increased the demand of the online financial services. In this paper we have considered and studied factors that have an impact of the (...) adoption of fintech services through convenient sampling. We have studied perceived ease of use, innovation, trust and government support. Through SPSS we have concluded that each of these factors have a positive impact on the adoption of fintech services. Our model is based on TAM and was adopted from our base article. The finding of this research can be used to make improvements in the existing fintech services and also in the development of new services. (shrink)

Based on empirical evidence and recent literature review, Stress has become an integral part of students’ academic life due to the various internal and external expectations placed upon their shoulders. It is therefore, becomes imperative to understand the sources and impact of academic stress in order to derive adequate and efficient intervention strategies. The five dimensions of sources such as Anxiety/stress, Student’s Academic stress, Financial Constraints, Cultural dynamics, Students Performance were analyzed. This research finding is based on the responses obtained (...) from 215 undergraduate students enrolled at a higher learning institution in Pakistan. This paper investigated the stressors, symptoms and effects that are likely to be experienced by undergraduate students in higher Studies. The data was collected through self-administered questionnaires that were randomly floated on social media during the time of COVID-19. Data obtained was analyzed using SPSS. (shrink)

Journal of Human Values, Volume 28, Issue 3, Page 259-270, September 2022. Novel and history, despite technical differences, have something in common, which one can observe by examining fictional narrative as historical discourse without downplaying its symbolic ramifications. It is a fact that the novel is primarily concerned with individual existence, yet at the same time, it has not overlooked the condition of the people in general, as is reflected in the writings of some of the great writers. The article (...) attempts to take this perspective in order to re-read Fakir Mohan Senapati’s Six Acres and a Third beyond its historicity as a symbolic representation of the contemporary conditions of Indian farming community. It further aims to probe into the predicament of the farming community in India irrespective of historical and political changes. The argument is corroborated through historical parallels about the perpetual plight of farmers as shown in the text with the fear of destitution among farmers in general, and marginalized ones in particular, in the wake of recent legal promulgation. The study reveals that the plight of the people under feudalism represented by fictional characters in Senapati’s novel, which he has conscientiously explored by deploying a variety of artistic techniques, is analogous to the one faced by the contemporary farmers of independent India with neoliberal economic dispensation. (shrink)

Caffeine, a known CNS stimulant is given as an adjunct component in most abused drugs which could be fatal with repeated administration in many circumstances. This paper presents a study to investigate the effect of repeated administration of caffeine at high dose on rat liver, and discusses ethical and policy issues of caffeine use. Long Evans rats were treated with pure caffeine solution in distilled water through intragastric route once daily for consecutive 56 days. Three groups of rats recognized as (...) low dose, high dose and control group received 6mg caffeine / kg BW, 12mg caffeine / kg BW and distilled water, respectively. Rat plasma was examined for liver transaminases and alkaline phosphatases concentrations which were significantly increased in plasma as compared to the control. Both rat plasma and liver homogenate were subjected to estimate malondialdehyde, advanced oxidation protein product, nitric oxide, antioxidant enzyme catalase, glutathione and superoxide dismutase activity. MDA, AOPP, NO levels increased and SOD activity decreased significantly in both plasma and liver as compared to those of control where as CAT and GSH activity remain unchanged. Rat liver tissues were studied histochemically with Hematoxylin and Eosin, and Picro Sirius Red staining. Significantly increased infiltration of inflammatory cells and progressive deposition of collagen fibre were visible in liver tissue of caffeine treated both dose groups as compared to the control. Long term administration of caffeine at higher dose, significantly contributes to liver inflammation and consequent fibrogenesis. This raises significant ethical and policy issues. (shrink)

_This study examines the proposition that exports cause growth in gross domestic product GDP in the economy of Pakistan from 1973 to 2022. The study intends to analyze the export promotion strategy that was adopted by Pakistan's economy in the 1990s. Cointegration test reveals there is a long-run relationship between these two variables. However, causality is proved in both short and long-run from GDP to exports. The Trade openness and export growth both are prolonged association but in case of Pakistan (...) persistent depreciation of PKR could not achieve desired level of export earning which implies that J-Curve theory does not exist in Pakistan. This implies that growth in the domestic production base is vital to expansion in exports. The government or policymakers should give importance to and incentivize various production sectors of an economy so that they can contribute to the expansion of export markets._. (shrink)

Based on the Guest 1997 organizational outcome model, this explanatory study examined the effects of five dimensions of practices of HR. i.e. performance evaluation, recruitment & selection, compensation & reward, career opportunities within organization and training & development on proximal business outcomes. The study validates components of GUEST model by integrating between HRM dimensions and banking operations, thus strengthens the existing theoretical model of GUEST by improving the comprehensiveness as it provides analytical framework for studying HR. Exploratory factor analysis and (...) confirmatory factor analysis was utilized in the current study, and tested the study hypotheses by SEM to analyze the proposed conceptual model. It was found that all five chosen HR practices had significant influence on the quality of operations however for flexibility of operations, performance appraisals and career within organization have shown significant role for banking industry of the country, Pakistan. The study contributed to the construction and validation of structural. path and measurement models of SHRM practices and two selected operational competitive outcomes based on theoretical and empirical foundations, which will help progress the human resource management future researches and important implications for HR mangers, as very little work has been done on interdisciplinary framework of HR and OM specifically within context of South Asian banking Industry. (shrink)

Music education is frequently growing around the globe and needs emotional attachments and adoption innovation for the attractive music education that needs researcher’s emphasis. Thus, the current article investigates the impact of lack of emotional experience and resistance to innovation on unattractive music education in China. The current research also investigates the mediating impact of dissatisfied musicians among the association of lack of emotional experience, resistance to innovation, and unattractive music education in China. The study has used the primary data (...) collected using questionnaires. The current article examines the validity and reliability using the measurement assessment model and also tests the hypotheses using the structural assessment model with the help of smart-PLS. The results indicated that the lack of emotional experience and resistance to innovation has a positive and significant impact on unattractive music education in China. The findings also revealed that dissatisfied musicians significantly mediate among lack of emotional experience, resistance to innovation, and unattractive music education in China. This article helps policymakers establish policies about making music education attractive for musicians by adopting innovation. (shrink)

It has become essential to create and apply new media in visual communication design due to social media existence. This study aims to investigate the role of innovative applications of new media in visual communication design in educational institutions. Traditional media design in visual communication lacks to disseminate information more effectively, which requires innovative change. Therefore, this study attempts to highlight the role of innovative application of new media in visual communication by considering visual expression design with information technology, flexible (...) layout, diversified modes of transmission, and interactivity of integration. For this purpose, this study adopted a quantitative research approach in which a cross-sectional research design is followed. A questionnaire survey is carried out to collect data from educational institutions in China. Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modeling is used for data analysis. Results of the study indicated that innovative applications of new media have central importance in visual communication. However, resistance to innovative change has a negative role in the relationship between innovative applications of new media and visual communication design. Results of the study highlighted that visual expression design with IT, flexible layout, diversified modes of transmission, and interactivity of integration have a positive effect on visual communication design. Therefore, among the educational intuitions of China, implementing innovative applications related to the new media can lead to visual communication design. The results of this study provided several insights for the practitioners to promote communication methods among educational institutions. (shrink)

In this global village, easy access to news has resulted in many changes in the preferences and patterns of people for accessing news. Therefore, the present study has attempted to investigate the effects of news relevance, perceived quality, and news overloading on people’s news curation preferences. This study has also examined the mediating role of news avoidance between the news relevance, perceived quality, and news overloading on the news curation. A quantitative technique has been employed to check the relationships proposed (...) in the study. A sample size of 217 has been analyzed to check these hypotheses. The findings of the study revealed that news relevance has a negative impact while news overload positively and significantly impact the news curation. However, the news avoidance only mediated the relationship of news quality and news curation. Theoretically, the study has contributed to the literature of journalism and social media by finding that relevance of news has a negative significant impact on the news curation behavior of people, such that if they do not find the news relevant, they happily curate it. Practically, the study implies that the people are more prone to the quality of news rather than quantity; therefore, it is important for the news agencies to ensure that they produce and deliver the quality based news considering the accuracy to penetrate the Theoretic lass level. (shrink)

Knowledge hiding has become an alarming issue for the organizations. Knowledge hiding is an employee’s intentional attempt to conceal knowledge requested by others at the workplace. Employee knowledge hiding significantly influences an organization’s effective functioning. This research is an attempt to extend previous work on antecedents of knowledge hiding. Drawing on conservation of resources theory, it is proposed that receiving poor treatment by organizations in the form of organizational dehumanization creates psychological distress among employees toward the organization. Distress among workers (...) in turn intervenes the path and increases the likelihood of engaging in knowledge hiding behaviors. An employee’s felt obligation for constructive change may moderate the relationship between organizational dehumanization and employee psychological distress. Data for the current study were collected from 245 employees of the telecommunication sector in three-time lags. The results support the direct and indirect effect of organizational dehumanization on employee knowledge hiding behaviors through the mediation of psychological distress. The results also support the moderation of FOCC between organizational dehumanization and psychological distress. Furthermore, the findings of the study may help organizational practitioners and managers about the value of effective organizational climate and practices for better organizational functioning through knowledge sharing and providing insight into undesirable repercussions of organizational dehumanization. Implications for organizations and practitioners are discussed. (shrink)

Photovoice, a community-based participatory research method, employs images and words to convey participants' needs, concerns, and desires. It proves particularly valuable in researching marginalized communities who face elevated health risks, disease transmission, and social and health disparities. This paper seeks to investigate the ethical considerations inherent in photovoice research projects. We conducted an extensive literature review spanning four databases to identify pertinent photovoice studies. Ethical issues from the selected articles were identified, categorized, and summarized. Our analysis of twenty-five photovoice studies (...) uncovered various ethical concerns, which had been grouped into informed consent, participant safety and disclosure, privacy and confidentiality, misrepresentation, power dynamics, and compensation. In essence, our findings underscore the importance of addressing these ethical concerns to uphold the rights and autonomy of participants, even as photovoice research strives for authenticity, inclusivity, and empowerment. (shrink)

Various consequences of social networks in virtual space are expanding as a new phenomenon in Islamic societies in line with other societies. Social science thinkers point to the two-sided role of the Internet and virtual space in economic, cultural and religious development. Humans need to communicate collectively based on their inherent nature. The media and means of mass communication, which had a slow growth in the past, have faced significant changes in the present era, in such a way that the (...) present age is called the age of information and communication. At such a time when virtual space and social networks have turned the world into a small village and people with different cultures and beliefs are connected with each other, the issues of children’s education (especially in Islamic societies where the focus is on Islamic education) has faced the challenge, what is important for parents in this age is to get familiar with the basics of education and to pay attention to the educational challenges of social networks in the virtual space. One of the necessities of the era of information and communication in Islamic societies is the need for education in accordance with religious teachings that prepares people to face the changing and unpredictable challenges of life. New media are accused of creating new challenges in life from two perspectives. On the one hand, the media are competitors of educational activities in the field of education, and on the other hand, they are considered to be the foundation of many new challenges. In addition, it is worth mentioning that the religious teachings that form the basis of Islamic governments are the answer to all the problems of the human society and its requirements in every age. Contribution: This research presents the effectiveness of religious teachings (Qur’an, Sunnah and Hadiths) as the best sources of Islamic education, which can be used in the cultural policy of virtual space and raise the level of awareness of families and individuals in knowing the points of threat and opportunity in the virtual space. (shrink)

The existence of ‘human-like’ attributes and actions in the Qur’an and Hebrew Bible entails to various interpretations towards anthropomorphic verses among the Muslim and Jewish counterparts. Al-Ghazali and Maimonides in their discourses strongly affirmed the unity of God and refuted anthropomorphism. Therefore, this study expounded al-Ghazali and Maimonides’ methods in affirming the incorporeality of God through outlining the similarities and differences in their interpretation. This study was qualitative in nature which analyses writings of al-Ghazali and Maimonides in encountering anthropomorphism. It (...) can be deduced that both scholars were found to be employing allegorical interpretation with different level of interpretations in their attempts to repudiate the corporeal form of God. Alternatively, they both agree on the literalist’s approach with conditions that one must not perceive God’s essence in a bodily figure. Consequently, believing so will lead one to heresy. In sum, their emphasis on an incorporeal God brought them to similar interpretation despite their different religion and theological or philosophical orientation.Contribution: This article contributed to comparative theological study in understanding anthropomorphic verses through the discourse of al-Ghazali and Maimonides in Islam and Judaism, respectively. (shrink)

In this article we present a parameterized model for generating multimodal behavior based on cultural heuristics. To this end, a multimodal corpus analysis of human interactions in two cultures serves as the empirical basis for the modeling endeavor. Integrating the results from this empirical study with a well-established theory of cultural dimensions, it becomes feasible to generate culture-specific multimodal behavior in embodied agents by giving evidence for the cultural background of the agent. Two sample applications are presented that make use (...) of the model and are designed to be applied in the area of coaching intercultural communication. (shrink)

Using the method of Descriptive Experience Sampling, some subjects report experiences of thinking that do not involve words or any other symbols [Hurlburt, R. T., and C. L. Heavey. 2006. Exploring Inner Experience. Amsterdam: John Benjamins; Hurlburt, R. T., and S. A. Akhter. 2008. “Unsymbolized Thinking.” Consciousness and Cognition 17 : 1364–1374]. Even though the possibility of this unsymbolized thinking has consequences for the debate on the phenomenological status of cognitive states, the phenomenon is still insufficiently examined. This paper (...) analyzes the main properties of unsymbolized thinking and advances an explanation of its origin. According to our analysis, unsymbolized thoughts appear as propositional states, that is, they are experienced as compositional conceptual phenomena, with semantic and syntactic features analogous to those of the contents of utterances. Based on this characterization, we hypothesize that UT is continuous with the activity of inner speech, in particular, it i... (shrink)