This study aimed to analyze the effect of deviant workplace behaviors, such as mistreatment, bullying, and incivility on employee turnover intention and identify the transformational leadership role as a moderator. The data was collected through a survey questionnaire with the help of a purposive sampling technique. A total of 318 respondents’ data was gathered from university academic and general staff in China. The results were analyzed through SPSS and structural equation modeling structural equation modeling software. The findings indicate that deviant (...) workplace behavior, i.e., mistreatment, bullying, and incivility, significantly affect employee turnover intention. Moreover, a result shows that transformational leadership has a significant moderating role on the relationship between turnover intention and workplace bullying and incivility but was insignificant between turnover intention and workplace mistreatment. Lastly, implications and limitations were also discussed in this article. (shrink)

We argue that there is a neo-colonial knowledge regime operating in business ethics. This knowledge regime engages in systematic epistemic violence of exclusion and distortion against indigenous alternative knowledge formations from the Global South. Thus, the question posed for the business ethics field from a critical perspective is how to ethically respond and challenge this situation of power and domination. We propose the idea of epistemic healing as an ethical critical response for reversing epistemic violence in business ethics. Epistemic healing (...) requires identifying and then calling back to the center of discussion in business ethics knowledge traditions of the other that it has excluded and made peripheral. We illustrate this principle of epistemic healing in the context of Islamic business ethics given that it contains epistemic violence against Islam, particularly Sufism, an important knowledge tradition of the Muslim other from the Global South. Breaking silence on the neocolonial knowledge regime operating in the construction of business ethics, introducing the concept of epistemic healing, and illustrating the latter’s fecundity in advancing debate in business ethics while also helping reverse the field’s epistemic violence against alternative knowledge commitments and resources of the other from the Global South are the important contributions of this paper. (shrink)

ABSTRACTTurkey hosts the world’s largest community of displaced Syrians. According to UNHCR, there are more than 3 million registered Syrians in Turkey as of 2018. Since the beginning of the conflict in Syria in 2011, Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party has followed an open-door policy, which was accompanied by a discourse emphasizing religious solidarity and humanitarian values. However, the arrival of Syrian refugees has become entangled with the existing identity debates and conflicts in Turkish politics. The AKP’s discourse on (...) Syrian refugees has become intertwined with its positive self-representation as the defender of all oppressed people and its attempts to reconstruct the Turkish nation along more Islamic lines. The article analyses parliamentary debates and presidential speeches in order to unravel AKP discourses on Syrian refugees. Drawing upon the Discourse Historical Approach in Critical Discourse Analysis, the article puts forward two arguments. First, the refugee issue has become a constitutive component of AKP identity and a discursive tool to reconstruct the nation along more Islamic lines. Second, Turkey’s refugee policy has become a source of pride and enabled the AKP to claim moral superiority both vis-à-vis the West and its political opponents at home. (shrink)

_Progression of rape laws cannot be studied without state and governance feminist actors in Pakistan. The reformation of rape laws is a result of delicate harmony between the state, feminist groups, and international organizations, focused on progressive law-making. Feminist politics – state and governance feminism have altered the shape of policy-making. However, the implementation of policies is minimal compared to the severity of the issue. Essential amendments have been made to the laws on sexual violence since the Protection of Women (...) Act, 2006. These amendments aim to eliminate material gaps and systemic biases against the victims and make the process less adverse. This paper studies the progression of sexual violence laws with a focus on improvement via survival-centric approaches. Recent policies are being perceived from the women-centric lens, for which an argument is raised that any law will be better than the Zina Laws of 1979. The faith of these laws is to facilitate women, and regressive norms of the criminal-justice system are expected to be replaced with well-being initiatives, which require resources to instrumentally execute them._. (shrink)

Soon after the first COVID-19 positive case was detected in Wuhan, China, the virus spread around the globe, and in no time, it was declared as a global pandemic by the WHO. Testing, which is the first step in identifying and diagnosing COVID-19, became the first need of the masses. Therefore, testing kits for COVID-19 were manufactured for efficiently detecting COVID-19. However, due to limited resources in the densely populated countries, testing capacity even after a year is still a limiting (...) factor for COVID-19 diagnosis on a larger scale and contributes to a lag in disease tracking and containment. Due to this reason, we started this study to provide a better cost-effective solution for enhancing the testing capacity so that the maximum number of people could get tested for COVID-19. For this purpose, we utilized the approach of artificial neural networks (ANN) to acquire the relevant data on COVID-19 and its testing. The data were analyzed by using Machine Learning, and probabilistic algorithms were applied to obtain a statistically proven solution for COVID-19 testing. The results obtained through ANN indicated that sample pooling is not only an effective way but also regarded as a “Gold standard” for testing samples when the prevalence of the disease is low in the population and the chances of getting a positive result are less. We further demonstrated through algorithms that pooling samples from 16 individuals is better than pooling samples of 8 individuals when there is a high likelihood of getting negative test results. These findings provide ground to the fact that if sample pooling will be employed on a larger scale, testing capacity will be considerably increased within limited available resources without compromising the test specificity. It will provide healthcare units and enterprises with solutions through scientifically proven algorithms, thus, saving a considerable amount of time and finances. This will eventually help in containing the spread of the pandemic in densely populated areas including vulnerably confined groups, such as nursing homes, hospitals, cruise ships, and military ships. (shrink)

The main public health advantages of examining gene by environment interactions in externalizing behavior lie in the realm of personalized interventions. Nevertheless, the incorporation of genetic data in randomized controlled trials is fraught with difficulties and raises ethical questions. This paper has been written from the perspective of developmental psychologists who, as researchers, see themselves confronted with important and in part new kinds of ethical questions arising from G × E research in social sciences. The aim is to explicate and (...) discuss ethical questions, based on the conviction that what is ethically salient in a research setting will also be relevant in that area of public healthcare incorporating research findings. The ethical questions discussed include: whether it is ethically responsible to withhold an effective treatment; to what extent genetic results should be disclosed; whether researchers should be allowed to collect genetic data of both child and parent; and what are costs and benefits of personalized interventions based on screening. We made an attempt to address these questions, but it is up to researchers to determine whether the solutions are suitable for their G × E research in social sciences. (shrink)

This study examined the mediating role of core Executive Functions (EF: working memory and inhibitory control) and moderating role of Perceived Academic Intent to Entrepreneurship (PAIE) in relationship between Dark Personality Traits (SDT) and Entrepreneurial Intentions (EI) of university students. A sample of 539 university students enrolled in various undergraduate and postgraduate programs completed the Short Dark Triad-3 (SD3), Adult Executive Functioning Inventory (ADEXI), and measures for assessing Entrepreneurial Intent and Perceived Academic Intent to Entrepreneurship. The results showed that of (...) SDT, only Machiavellianism was significantly associated with EI. Both of the core executive functions and PAIE were also positively correlated with EI. Moreover, findings showed that EF positively mediated the relationship between Machiavellian disposition and entrepreneurial intention, while perceived academic intent to entrepreneurship moderated the relationship between executive functions and EI. A significant moderated mediation index was also reported. Findings offer useful insight to the interplay among above mentioned variables and guide educational and organizational psychologists to employ core cognitive strategies for promoting entrepreneurial thoughts and channelizing the productive energies of students with malevolent tendencies through academic coaching. (shrink)

This paper investigates the existence of pure strategy Nash equilibria in discontinuous and nonquasiconcave games. We introduce a new notion of continuity, called weakly continuous security, which is weaker than the most known weak notions of continuity, including the surrogate point secure of SSYM game of Carbonell-Nicolau and Mclean (Econ Theory, 2018a), the continuous security of Barelli and Meneghel (Econometrica 81:813–824, 2013), C-security of McLennan et al. (Econometrica 79:1643–1664 2011), generalized weakly transfer continuity of Nessah (Economics 47:659–662, 2011), generalized better-reply (...) security of Carmona (Econ Theory 48:1–4, 2011), Barelli and Soza (On the existence of Nash equilibria in discontinuous and qualitative games, 2009), Barelli and Meneghel (Econometrica 81:813–824, 2013), lower single deviation property of Reny (Further results on the existence of Nash equilibria in discontinuous games. University of Chicago, 2009), better-reply security of Reny (Econometrica 67:1029–1056, 1999) and the results of Prokopovych (Econ Theory 48:5–16, 2011, Econ Theory 53:383–402, 2013) and Carmona (J Econ Theory 144:1333–1340, 2009). We show that a compact, convex and weakly continuous secure Hausdorff locally convex topological vector space game has a pure strategy Nash equilibrium. Moreover, it holds in a large class of discontinuous games. (shrink)

Pak-China nexus has always been exemplary and phenomenal. Year 2015 is marked as the biggest milestone between these two all-weather friends. China Pakistan Economic Corridor is the key to the door that leads to the biggest ever trade activity that will be started from China and will be expanded to the middle-east, African and even some vibrant European markets. It is the biggest deal signed between Pakistan and any other country that promises the huge economic commotion. This corridor is basically (...) a part of new phase of globalization where the economic cooperation between countries and regions define the future of the respective economies. Due to its great economic and geo-strategic importance, CPEC has acquired global attention and analysts from all over the world are holding different opinions on this substantial economic corridor between China and Pakistan. This paper is a brief overview of the intra-regional connectivity that CPEC ensures and its impact on socioeconomic development of the entire region. This study evaluates the growth of energy sector, infrastructure development and advancements in connectivity in terms of transportation and communication as a result of this mega project. It also describes the inter-regional coordination within the country that will strengthen area-to-area bonding that is important for the uniform economic progress so far. Once the things start to move on smoothly and smartly, there is no ambiguity that this project will turn out as the socioeconomic revolution, mainly for Pakistan, then for China and obviously for the other countries of the region as well. (shrink)

The aim of this study is to explore social media marketing activities and their impact on consumer intentions. This study also analyzes the mediating roles of social identification and satisfaction. The participants in this study were experienced users of two social media platforms Facebook and Instagram in Pakistan. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from respondents. We used an online community to invite Facebook and Instagram users to complete the questionnaire in the designated online questionnaire system. Data were (...) collected from 353 respondents, and structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. Results show that SMMAs have a significant impact on the intentions of users. Furthermore, social identification mediates the relationship between social media activities and satisfaction, and satisfaction mediates the relationship between social media activities and the intentions of users. This will help marketers how to attract customers to develop their intentions. This is the first novel study that used SMMAs to address the user intentions with the role of social identification and satisfaction in the context of Pakistan. (shrink)

This article aims to highlight the healthcare issues raised by COVID-19 in Pakistan’s scenario. Initially, Pakistan lacked “standard operating procedures,” and the government had to ship testing kits from China and Japan. Moreover, due to violations of the lockdown and standard operating procedures (SOPs), the rapidly increasing number of cases created a burden on the healthcare system. More and more, this pandemic and its impact have grown. As vaccine development has not been successful yet, “herd immunity” can only be achieved (...) if about three quarters of the population contract the virus—requiring immuno￾compromised citizens to be sacrificed for the sake of the country. Moreover, Pakistan has limited testing capacity, so most COVID-19 tests are missing their mark even as the virus spreads. The current scenario is also raising several concerns about the capacity of the government to tackle the prevailing healthcare crisis. In this regard, healthcare professionals suggest that the government must act responsibly to ensure better security provided to healthcare professionals. Identifying suspected cases, introducing personal protective equipment, and taking administrative measures to ensure that better security is provided to healthcare professionals are the needs of the hour to improve outcomes of COVID-19 patients. Testing, tracking, and lockdowns must be focused on areas where clusters are detected. The healthcare professionals must be given utmost protection before this pan￾demic could wreak havoc in terms of fatalities. Investing in the chronically underfunded healthcare system is needed, so that Pakistan can build capacity to fight the pandemic. (shrink)

Hempeler et al.’s (2024) focus on informal coercion in mental health treatment in this issue’s target article is critically important for multiple reasons, several of which warrant explicit recogni...

Our study explores the relationship between psychological contract (fulfillment/violations) and voice behavior (promotive/prohibitive). The study encourages promoting the development of positive voice behavior since the promotive voice behavior of employees would help the organization to grow and improve as per industry standards especially during the upcoming hi-tech era. If the knowledge workers do not show positive voice behavior, it is difficult for organizations to compete and sustain in such an era of digitalization. A cross-sectional survey was conducted for the assessment/validation (...) of the model. Data was collected through a single self-reported questionnaire, filled out by the 89 employees of two private banks, working in 8 different branches. Further, the relationships among variables have been analyzed using structure equation modeling. Results show a strong and positive relationship between psychological contract fulfillment and promotive voice behavior whereas a negative relationship is indicated upon the violations and breach of psychological contract. Job satisfaction/dissatisfaction was also tested as mediators between these variables. Future researchers may test the same in different geographical locations and demographic conditions, whereas various personality traits may also be tested since voice behavior is an individual decision. The study represents the first of its kind on the said topic especially in the Pakistani context. (shrink)

After his refutation of the doubts concerning Proposition I.7, Ibn al-Haytham mentions three possible ways in which circles may intersect, submitting them to the following “intuitive” argument: one part of one of the two circles is situated inside of the other circle, and its other part is situated outside of it. One is therefore tempted to believe that the commentator accepts the principle of continuity in the case of circles, since his argument has the following meaning: if a circle is (...) divisible into two parts, one of which is situated inside the other circle, and the other outside of it, then the two circles cut one another. The author of this article proposes to establish the limits of this belief, on the basis of the following reflections: 1). It will be noted first of all that what could be called the ‘principle of the intersection of circles’ does not constitute ipso facto a principle in the mind of Ibn al-Haytham: no allusion is made to it in the commentary on Proposition I.1, among others. 2) It will be established later on that if one accepts that a line is the result of the movement of a point, the principle of continuity should be considered by him as something which is obvious by itself, without being stated. This conclusion will be based on an analysis of the notion of continuity in its classical meaning, and on Ibn al-Haytham’s commentary on Proposition X.1. 3) On the other hand, we should note the presence of a ‘sketch’ of topological language, which Ibn al-Haytham develops for the notion of a circle : one could say in this context that his reflection constitutes an important, if not principal, stage in the process which was to lead to the explicit formulation of the principle of continuity. (shrink)

Business Ethics, the Environment &Responsibility, EarlyView.

This article examines the means by which Malaysian governments have been relatively successful in pursuing both economic development and social equity. These advances have been remarkable, given Malaysia's history of colonial servitude and racial and ethnic tensions. The authors' examination of government economic and social policies notes the importance of strong political leadership that is committed to creating a national identity through consensus building. In pursuing these social objectives, successive governments have also played an active and transparent role in fostering (...) economic growth and development. However, a number of problems remain as Malaysia continues to follow these social and economic policies. (shrink)

This study provides an innovative approach to neutrosophic algebraic structures by introducing a new structure called Neutrosophic Soft Cubic T-ideal (NSCTID), which combines T-ideal (TID) and neutrosophic Soft Cubic Sets (NSCSs) within the framework of PS-Algebra. Within the already-existing neutrosophic cubic structures, the addition of soft sets with the characteristics of TID makes this structure more desirable. The theoretical development of the proposed structure includes the application of fundamental ideas as union, intersection, the Cartesian product, and homomorphism. We also introduce (...) the notions of NSCTID-translation and NSCTID-multiplication to further enhance the structure of NSCTID. By applying the idea of translation and multiplication, we offer improved algorithm for neutrosophic cubic sets to deal with different parameters that are satisying the TID’s distinctive characteristics. Through this thorough research, we offer an elementary understanding of NSCTID and its capabilities, providing the way to new algebraic structures. (shrink)

This paper unravels an unprecedented interplay between board gender diversity (BGD) and corporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disputes among Chinese A-share-listed nonfinancial companies from 2017 to 2021. Framed within a knowledge-based and sensemaking perspective of institutional frameworks, the research not only illuminates the profound impact of internal (corporate governance ratings) and external (regional institutional development) institutional factors on this intricate relationship but also brings to light a paradigm-shifting revelation. The study employed a diverse set of empirical tests, ranging from (...) ordinary least squares regression to advanced methods such as the generalized method of moments, two-stage least squares, and propensity score matching, providing a nuanced and comprehensive analysis. The findings highlight the pivotal role of female directors in significantly mitigating ESG disputes. A mechanism analysis further uncovers that internal and external institutional quality are potent positive moderators in shaping the BGD–ESG dispute dynamic. This research has profound implications, providing valuable insights for stakeholders, policymakers, and scholars, offering a comprehensive understanding of how gender diversity fosters sustainability while unravelling the intricate tapestry of internal and external institutional dynamics that shape ESG outcomes. (shrink)

Rationale, aims and objectives To compare the pharmacotherapeutic approaches to diabetic hypertension of family physicians (FPs) and general practitioners (GPs). Methods A retrospective prescription-based study was conducted in 15 out of a total of 20 health centres, involving 115 primary care physicians – 77 FPs and 38 GPs, representing 74% of the primary care physicians of Bahrain. Prescriptions were collected during May and June 2000 to comprise a study population of 1266 diabetic-hypertensive patients. Results As monotherapy, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors (...) (37.9%) and β-blockers (38.3%) were the most commonly prescribed classes of antihypertensives by FPs and GPs, respectively. Calcium channel blockers (CCBs) were ranked third by both categories of physicians. For two-drug combinations, a β-blocker and an ACE inhibitor was the combination of choice for both physician categories. Patients managed by the FPs were more likely to receive a β-blocker–CCB combination (17.4 vs. 14.9%) or a diuretic–ACE inhibitor combination (16.7 vs. 11.4%) and less likely to receive a β-blocker–diuretic combination (11.8 vs. 16.7%) than those managed by the GPs. The proportion of patients receiving antihypertensive combinations was 40.6 and 38.5% for FPs and GPs, respectively. While the GPs prescribed CCB as a monotherapy to the elderly most often, the FPs choice was a β-blocker. Diuretics were less preferred by both FPs and GPs. β-Blocker–ACE inhibitor was again the most preferred combination of both FPs and GPs. FPs prescribed CCB–β-blocker combinations more often than GPs (P = 0.01), whereas CCB–ACE inhibitor combinations were less preferred (P = 0.09). A trend towards excessive use of short-acting nifedipine as monotherapy for elderly patients, both by FPs and by GPs, was noticed. Glibenclamide, alone or in combination with metformin, was the foremost antidiabetic drug prescribed by FPs and GPs. Middle-aged (45–64 years) patients seen by GPs were more likely to receive glibenclamide than those treated by FPs (P = 0.001) and less likely to receive gliclazide (P = 0.01). Combinations of a β-blocker with either glibenclamide or insulin were prescribed considerably more often by GPs.Conclusions Within the same practice setting, a substantial difference was observed between FPs and GPs in terms of preference for different classes of drugs in the management of diabetic hypertension. The compliance of both FPs and GPs was suboptimal; overall, the compliance of the FPs was closer to the recommended guidelines, however. Educational programmes should specifically address these inadequacies in order to improve the quality of health care. (shrink)

Integral to the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder is the initial assessment through which the existence of a ‘problem’ is first ascertained. Despite this, there remains limited research on this early part of the diagnostic pathway. In this article, we utilised conversation analysis to examine relevant issues in relation to the practitioner–family interactions that take place within this initial assessment context. Our findings illustrated that parents typically first raised the possibility of the presence of an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis through (...) ‘building a case’, which professionals were then able to ratify or negate. Furthermore, we found that the assessments unfolded sequentially and clinical decisions were typically reached through a distinctive pattern of interaction. These findings have important implications for clinical practice, including for the study of autism spectrum disorder assessments and diagnosis. (shrink)

Although critical discourse analysis (CDA) sets out to investigate both oppressive and progressive discourses, the vast bulk of published studies seem to prioritize the former. This paper is a response to scholarly calls to engage with (non)oppressive discourses by integrating positive impulses in critical discourse analysis, and thus contribute to the growth of positive discourse analysis (PDA), a complement to CDA, which attends to the emancipatory mechanisms of resistance. Using a combination of theoretical tools, this paper takes a case study (...) approach to explore the potentials of ‘complexification’ [Macgilchrist, F. (2007). Positive discourse analysis: Contesting dominant discourses by reframing the issues. Critical Approaches to Discourse Analysis Across Disciplines, 1(1), 74–94], a counter-discursive strategy for propelling marginal discourses into the dominant official school discourse. Specifically, the paper discusses three layers of complexification found in a selected Moroccan EFL textbook which has been developed, approved and distributed by the Moroccan Ministry of Education, and has been required to be used in every school, public or private. The analysis highlights the role this textbook plays in promoting emancipatory and progressive discourses about Amazigh social actors, and hence, signals a new shift in analytic focus by illuminating a concrete application of PDA in education curricula. (shrink)

The Neutrosophic Precalculus and the Neutrosophic Calculus can be developed in many ways, depending on the types of indeterminacy one has and on the method used to deal with such indeterminacy. This article is innovative since the form of neutrosophic binomial factorial theorem was constructed in addition to its refrains. Two other important theorems were proven with their corollaries, and numerical examples as well. As a conjecture, we use ten (indeterminate) forms in neutrosophic calculus taking an important role in limits. (...) To serve article's aim, some important questions had been answered. (shrink)

Plastic consumption is an important aspect of contemporary living, and studies that systematically examine consumers’ plastic waste recycling intentions from an ethical perspective are scarce. Considering the severity of plastic waste recycling problems globally based on the stimulus-organism-response paradigm, this study analyses how the information publicity influences consumers’ plastic waste recycling intentions from an ethical perspective in an emerging market economy. We investigate this link by focusing on the indirect effect of perceived social pressure and the moderating role of media (...) disposition (i.e., media richness and content trustworthiness). Data from a three-wave field survey of 469 household consumers from China showed that social pressure mediated the positive relationship between information publicity and ethical recycling intentions. Additionally, media richness and content trustworthiness moderate the link between information publicity and consumers’ perceptions of social pressure. These findings provide encouraging evidence for applying the SOR paradigm to explain the ethical recycling intention of consumers. The findings may assist policymakers in motivating consumers to think ethically about plastic waste recycling. (shrink)

_This scholarly article delves into the intricate realm of ontology, specifically exploring the metaphysical foundations of existence. The investigation aims to elucidate the fundamental nature of being, questioning the essence, structure, and categories that underlie existence itself. Employing various philosophical perspectives and analytical tools, this study scrutinizes the ontological frameworks that shape our understanding of reality._.

Fasting of women on the days of her menstruation period is an issue that takes place in current fiqh discussions. Some contemporary researchers say that there is no religious obstacle for women to fast during these times. Moreover, they state that there is no reason to interrupt fasting, on the contrary, claim obliged to fasting. Meanwhile in traditional fiqh, it is stated that is religiously forbidden for women to fast during this period, rather it is claimed that fasting in this (...) period is ḥaram. The evidence brought to the views of all the mujtahids, who expressed their opinions on this matter was a narration from ʿĀʾisha Bint Abī Bakr (d. 58/678), a wife of Prophet (p.b.u.h). When a woman asked her if she should have fulfilled her ṣalāt (prayer) later, which she could not perform while she was in menstruation period, she responded to her as “are you Ḥarūrī?” then explained the answer. In some variants of this narration, matter of fasting is included in the question or answer. In this article, the issue of women's fasting during menstruation is discussed from a perspective based on isnād-matn analysis in the context of this narration which is called the “Ḥarūrī Ḥadīth”. In the matn of 71 riwāya identified on this article, it has been determined that the issue of fasting was added to the matns narrated by Ma'mer bin Rās̲h̲id and to some other narrations which in their corroborative (mutābī) matns not includes fasting. In later times, the version of the text with the mention of fasting was accepted as the original and became the proof that fasting of the menstruating woman was forbidden by religion. Considering the hadiths, which do not include issue of fasting, it is seen that the woman tābiʿī (Successor of the Companions) named Muâze asked ʿĀʾisha what the sunnah was about menstruating woman’s ṣalāt. Because in that era a sect called K̲h̲ārid̲j̲ites had claimed that women had to fulfill the ṣalāt that they could not perform during their menstruation, later. There are also other narrations mention the fasting of the menstruating woman. All these narrations indicated that the Prophet did not forbid fasting when menstruating, on the contrary, he just pointed out that fasting was interrupted due to menstruation. As fasting is not a worship like ṣalāt from which the woman is exempted from, a woman may interrupt fasting but must unconditionally fulfill this worship later. Thus, the situation of a woman in such a situation is equaled to the sufferer and the travelers who have a break from fasting. It is stated in traditional fiqh that a menstruating woman will not have to perform ṣalāts later that she couldn't fulfill in time. The necessity of performing a worship must be determined by a clear order of the prophet. However, a clear order regarding the prohibition of fasting during menstruation was not sought. Consequently, it is seen that the narrations are more clear evidence of the absence of any prohibition than they reveal the prohibition of fasting. It has been emphasized in the narratives that it is permissible for a woman to postpone her fast, but she is absolutely obliged to compensate the fasts that she did not fulfill, and she is not exempt from fasting as she is exempt from ṣalāt. (shrink)

Technological innovations, despite their several benefits, may have drawbacks, thus, they need a control mechanism or directional channel. Responsible innovation (RI) has gained popularity in technology-intensive countries as a way to regulate otherwise uncontrollable and radical technological innovations. However, existing RI research lacks a clear theoretical foundation and has not adequately addressed the commercial and performance aspects of innovative products and firms. The current research proposes an empirically testable model for RI by conducting a structured literature review, focusing on the (...) commercial aspect of innovative products and firms’ sustainability performance in the financial, social, and environmental dimensions. The study suggests a link between RI and the resource-based theory of the firm and proposes that RI can be seen as a distinctive competency developed through the firm’s resources and capabilities. The model would help enterprises achieve ethical and social acceptability and improve sustainability performance. Metadata examination of 98 articles yielded insights. The findings and future research directions of this study provide new insights for business strategy and policy. (shrink)

La visite médiatisée fait partie des outils utilisés par les professionnels du champ médico-social afin de permettre des contacts entre parent(s) et enfant(s). Contrairement à l’entretien et à l’observation, elle n’a pas de cadre de référence théorique et clinique précis. Comment donc concevoir un protocole et un cadre à la visite médiatisée? Sur quelle conception de la relation d’aide pouvons-nous nous appuyer pour penser nos manières d’être et de travailler, pour penser les différents niveaux d’interactions qu’engagent les bénéficiaires des visites (...) et pour saisir les transactions affectives et imaginaires que ces derniers nouent avec les professionnels que nous sommes? C’est ce cadre spécifique de la VM que l’article interroge en s’appuyant sur l’exemple d’un dispositif mis en place pour restaurer le contact entre un père souffrant de psychose et sa petite fille, victime de violences paternelles quand elle était nourrisson. (shrink)

The article explores the emergent tension between the minority imagination and anticaste politics among India’s most significant religious minority, the Muslims. Since the late 1990s, the mobilization of lowered-caste Muslims in the form of the Pasmanda movement has increasingly challenged the hegemony of the so-called high-caste Ashraf Muslims. The nascent Pasmanda counterdiscourse has contested the critical elements of the entrenched Muslim-minority discourse: identity and the religio-cultural, security and interreligious (communal) violence, and equity and affirmative action. The monolithic image of the (...) Muslim community has been dispelled, and the Muslim-minority discourse has been characterized as a machination for preserving and reproducing the Muslim elite interests. The article maps the Pasmanda discourse and locates it as an instance within the evolving literature on the analytical limitations of the concept of minority to address the justice claims of emergent political subjectivities. The Pasmanda contestations present a sharp anomaly to the existing Muslim-minority discourse and indicate a paradigmatic shift. (shrink)

This article deals with optimal control applied to vaccination and treatment strategies for an SIRS epidemic model with logistic growth and delay. The delay is incorporated into the model in order to modeled the latent period or incubation period. The existence for the optimal control pair is also proved. Pontryagin’s maximum principle with delay is used to characterize these optimal controls. The optimality system is derived and then solved numerically using an algorithm based on the forward and backward difference approximation.

Mining social network data and developing user profile from unstructured and informal data are a challenging task. The proposed research builds user profile using Twitter data which is later helpful to provide the user with personalized recommendations. Publicly available tweets are fetched and classified and sentiments expressed in tweets are extracted and normalized. This research uses domain-specific seed list to classify tweets. Semantic and syntactic analysis on tweets is performed to minimize information loss during the process of tweets classification. After (...) precise classification and sentiment analysis, the system builds user interest-based profile by analyzing user’s post on Twitter to know about user interests. The proposed system was tested on a dataset of almost 1 million tweets and was able to classify up to 96% tweets accurately. (shrink)

En visant une modélisation conceptuelle, cet écrit théorique aborde la vulnérabilité du professionnel de la protection de l’enfance à travers le prisme de son éthique. Dans une dynamique socioculturelle parfois trouble, ce professionnel fait face à la vulnérabilité des familles mais aussi à la sienne propre. Nous soutenons qu’il est fragilisé par un contexte qui altère fortement le déploiement du triptyque qui forme la base de ses actions socio-psycho-éducatives – orientation scolaire spécialisée/soins psychiques/placement. Comment alors s’estimer soi-même comme personne et (...) comme professionnel en évaluant ses actions à l’aune d’une visée éthique pour le moins contrariée par des normes porteuses de nouveaux idéaux? L’auteur conclut l’article en soulignant le risque de culpabilité que le professionnel peut endosser, à tort. Il plaide enfin pour une éthique à la fois prescriptive, armée de concepts philosophiques, et réflexive, enrichie par les rugosités du terrain, afin d’aborder de front les nouveaux antagonismes qui s’emparent du champ de la protection de l’enfance. (shrink)

This is an excerpt from the contentRecently older people have been the target of filmmakers and marketing campaigns; the concept of the “grey pound” has become a potentially significant attraction encouraging filmmakers to explore issues relating to age and ageing in mainstream films. The recent success of films such as Mamma Mia and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel have made a significant impact on the box office, and Amour securing the 2013 Palm D’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, proved that (...) an older audience is eager to watch films with mature characters and about issues that are relevant and meaningful to them.Actor Dustin Hoffman chose the play, Quartet by Ronald Harwood, to make his directorial debut. Set in “Beecham House,” a residential home for retired musicians, Hoffman explores brilliantly the diversity of octogenarians. The home is under the threat of closure unless the residents raise a substantial amount of money to keep it open, and their cunning plan to do that is by organizing a charitable evening gala fea. (shrink)

Most films dealing with cancer either adopt a sentimental approach or trivialize the impact of a diagnosis of cancer on patients and their families: Stepmom (USA, 1998), Sweet November (USA, 2001) and My Sister’s Keeper (USA, 2009) are a few examples. Few films, such as Wit (USA, 2001), have avoided common stereotypes and portrayed cancer patients as strong individuals trying to come to terms with their illness, rationalize its impact on their lives, and deal with the healthcare professionals in a (...) believable manner. The new film from director Jonathan Levine, 50/50, belongs to the second category in dealing with cancer patients as believable people with whom the viewer can empathize. It is refreshing to see that the film deals with its emotional subject in a humorous way without patronizing its audience or their intelligence. (shrink)

Countries in the Arab Gulf are currently experiencing some of the fastest rates of growth and progress in the world. _Transforming Education in the Gulf Region _argues that education systems in these countries need to use innovative pedagogies and best practices in teaching and learning to educate all citizens so that they obtain the knowledge and skills to be productive members of society. This book will contribute to the transformation of education in the Gulf countries by suggesting best practices, research (...) outcomes and case studies from experts in the Gulf region. It has become increasingly evident in recent years that Gulf countries need to use emerging learning technologies to cater for the needs of learners and to provide maximum flexibility in learning. There is also a growing practical need to use electronic technologies, since learning materials are more widely available in electronic formats than in paper-based formats. This book focuses on the role of emerging technologies and innovative pedagogies in transforming education in six Gulf countries in the region. With contributions from experts around the world, the book argues that the time is right for Arab Gulf countries to make the transition to electronic learning and that they need to implement the outcomes of research and adopt best practices to transform and revolutionize education to prepare learners in the Gulf region for the 21st Century. The book should be of interest to academics and students in the areas of higher education, learning technologies, education policy and education reform. It should also be of interest to educators and policymakers in the Gulf region. (shrink)

In recent years, the important and fast growth in the development and demand of multimedia products is contributing to an insufficiency in the bandwidth of devices and network storage memory. Consequently, the theory of data compression becomes more significant for reducing data redundancy in order to allow more transfer and storage of data. In this context, this paper addresses the problem of lossy image compression. Indeed, this new proposed method is based on the block singular value decomposition (SVD) power method (...) that overcomes the disadvantages of MATLAB’s SVD function in order to make a lossy image compression. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm has better compression performance compared with the existing compression algorithms that use MATLAB’s SVD function. In addition, the proposed approach is simple in terms of implementation and can provide different degrees of error resilience, which gives, in a short execution time, a better image compression. (shrink)