The motive of this study is to identify the factors influencing the willingness to pay (WTP) a premium price for socially responsible food products (SRFPs) in India. This study is based on primary survey of 398 respondents. Descriptive statistics and factor analysis have been used for data analysis. Further, logistic regression was used to examine the factors affecting the WTP a premium price for SRFPs. Results demonstrate that respondents of higher age are more likely to pay premium prices for SRFPs. (...) Male consumers are two times more likely to have higher WTP for SRFPs. WTP a premium price is significantly influenced by the consumers' reference group, pro‐environmental intention, and concern for the animals. Gender, age, consumers' reference group, pro‐environmental intention, and concern for the animals determine WTP premium prices for SRFPs. There are relatively very limited researches on this topic in emerging economies including India, where the adoption of socially responsible products is in early stage. The practical implications of this study are to help in increasing the sales of the SRFPs and producers to develop appropriate policy design. (shrink)

In the modern business environment, characterized by rapid technological advancements and globalization, abetted by IoT and Industry 5.0 phenomenon, innovation is indispensable for competitive advantage and economic growth. However, many organizations are facing problems in its true implementation due to the absence of a practical innovation management framework, which has made the implementation of the concept elusive instead of persuasive. The present study has proposed a new innovation management framework labeled as “Absolute Innovation Management (AIM)” to make innovation more understandable, (...) implementable, and part of the organization’s everyday routine by synergizing the innovation ecosystem, design thinking, and corporate strategy to achieve competitive advantage and economic growth. The current study used an integrative literature review methodology to develop the “Absolute Innovation Management” framework. The absolute innovation management framework links the innovation ecosystem with the corporate strategy of the firm by adopting innovation management as a strategy through design thinking. Thus, making innovation more user/human-centered that is desirable by the customer, viable for business and technically feasible, creating both entrepreneurial and customer value, and boosting corporate venturing and corporate entrepreneurship to achieve competitive advantage and economic growth while addressing the needs of IoT and Industry 5.0 era. In sum, it synergizes innovation, design thinking, and strategy to make businesses future-ready for IoT and the industry 5.0 revolution. The present study is significant, as it not only makes considerable contributions to the existing literature on innovation management by developing a new framework but also makes the concept more practical, implementable and part of an organization’s everyday routine. (shrink)

While heredity is predominantly controlled by what deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequences are passed from parents to their offspring, a small but growing number of traits have been shown to be regulated in part by the non‐genetic inheritance of information. Transgenerational epigenetic inheritance is defined as heritable information passed from parents to their offspring without changing the DNA sequence. Work of the past seven decades has transitioned what was previously viewed as rare phenomenology, into well‐established paradigms by which numerous traits can (...) be modulated. For the most part, studies in model organisms have correlated transgenerational epigenetic inheritance phenotypes with changes in epigenetic modifications. The next steps for this field will entail transitioning from correlative studies to causal ones. Here, we delineate the major molecules that have been implicated in transgenerational epigenetic inheritance in both mammalian and non‐mammalian models, speculate on additional molecules that could be involved, and highlight some of the tools which might help transition this field from correlation to causation. (shrink)

We provide two programmatic frameworks for integrating philosophical research on understanding with complementary work in computer science, psychology, and neuroscience. First, philosophical theories of understanding have consequences about how agents should reason if they are to understand that can then be evaluated empirically by their concordance with findings in scientific studies of reasoning. Second, these studies use a multitude of explanations, and a philosophical theory of understanding is well suited to integrating these explanations in illuminating ways.

This study aims to identify the influence of knowledge management practices on the entrepreneurial and organizational performance with the mediating effect of dynamic capabilities and moderating role of opportunity recognition. Data were gathered from 486 entrepreneurs and applied a structural equation model to test the hypotheses. We found that knowledge management practices have a positive and significant influence on dynamic capabilities, as well as have a significant impact on entrepreneurial and organizational performance. Moreover, results indicated that dynamic capabilities partially mediate (...) in the relationship between knowledge management practices on entrepreneurial and organizational performance. Furthermore, the relationship between knowledge management practices with entrepreneurial and organizational performance strengthening by opportunity recognition. Further, implications and limitations were discussed in the paper. (shrink)

South Asian regional integration is seemingly confronting many challenges. The aim of this paper is to identify those challenges and also look for prospects. Although regional integration in South Asia has adopted a kind of institutionalization, it is yet to deliver any concrete outcomes. High-politics and the not-so-conducive regional economic structures hinder any effectual culmination. However, constructivism, as a theory, is given due credence in this paper when looking for future prospects. The paper highlights the issues, and attempts to offer (...) certain policy directions by analyzing the challenges and identifying the prospects in the on-going integration/cooperation process. (shrink)

The article attempts to examine the impact of banks' specifics and board of directors' characteristics on directors' remuneration (REM) of 38 Indian listed banks from 2010 to 2019. The current study is based on secondary data that are extracted from the Prowess IQ database. Fixed effect model is used for analysing the data and generalised method of moment is applied for dealing with endogeneity problem. Finally, the sample is classified into three groups in order to check the robustness of the (...) results. Results revealed that return on assets, size, and market capitalisation positively and significantly impact directors' REM of Indian listed banks. While banks' age, capital adequacy, current ratio, and board of directors' composition have an insignificant impact on directors' REM of Indian listed banks. The findings of the study provide new evidence about the impact of banks' specifics and board of directors' characteristics on directors' REM in the Indian banking sector. The findings suggest that firms' specifics are significant determinants of directors' REM. (shrink)

The concept of knowledge and its implication to national development, with reference to Malaysia; and analysis from Islamic viewpoint.

In the debate on the European Union’s problems, the concept of “democracy deficit” has been present from its very beginning. This term is applied in a quite vast manner and, apart from the asymmetry of the relation between the European Parliament and the Council, it also concerns the overly limited role of national parliaments in the European Union. In this regard, inadequacy in the national position of individual parliaments is observed. On the other hand, it is necessary to emphasise their (...) uneven activity on their European aspirations. At the time when the European dispute on the rule of law in Poland has polarized attitudes and language in statements on both sides – despite irresponsible trends – it is worth to examine the participation of national parliaments (including the Polish parliament) in the European inter-parliamentary dialogue and, consequently, to determine whether and how its constructive impact on the European Union and its law functions. (shrink)

The present study investigated the relationship between paranoia and job satisfaction. Paranoia is defined as suspiciousness and the feeling of being threatened even if there is no proof of real threat. Paranoia is a concept that is often ignored in researches in Pakistan and rarely explored in context of any concept related to occupational life. After a detailed literature review, it was hypothesized that paranoia would be negatively correlated to job satisfaction. The sample of the present research consisted of 154 (...) professionals from different work settings. Paranoia was measured with the Feingstein Paranoia Scale Urdu version and job satisfaction was measured by the Generic Job Satisfaction Scale. Statistical analysis though Pearson Product Moment Correlation indicates that there is a strong negative correlation between paranoia and job satisfaction. Recommendations for employers and policy makers, avenues of future researches are discussed. (shrink)

BackgroundThe research shows a growing trend in using an electronic platform to supplement or replace traditional paper-based informed consent processes. Instead of the traditionally written informed consent document, electronic informed consent may be used to assess the research subject’s comprehension of the information presented. By doing so, respect for persons as one of the research ethical principles can be upheld. Furthermore, these electronic methods may reduce potential airborne infection exposures, particularly during the pandemic, thereby adhering to the beneficence and nonmaleficence (...) principle. This scoping review aims to identify the ethics related criteria that have been included in electronic informed consent processes and to synthesize and map these criteria to research ethics principles, in order to identify the gaps, if any, in current electronic informed consent processes.MethodsThe search was performed based on internet search and three main databases: PubMed, SCOPUS and EBSCO. PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews : Checklist and Explanation guideline was used to report this work.ResultsOf 34 studies that met the inclusion criteria, 242 essential original constructs were collated, and 7 concepts were derived. Digital content showed the highest percentage of collated original constructs followed by accessibility, comprehension engagement, autonomy, confidentiality, language, and parental consent. Twenty-five new items were synthesized for eConsent criteria which may provide guidance for ethical review of research involving eConsent.ConclusionThe current study adds significant value to the corpus of knowledge in research ethics by providing ethical criteria on electronic informed consent based on evidence-based data. The new synthesized items in the criteria can be readily used as an initial guide by the IRB/rec members during a review process on electronic informed consent and useful to the future preparation of a checklist. (shrink)

There is a growing demand for information and computational technology for surgeons help with surgical planning as well as prosthetics design. The two-dimensional images are registered to the three-dimensional (3D) model for high efficiency. To reconstruct the 3D model of knee joint including bone structure and main soft tissue structure, the evaluation and analysis of sports injury and rehabilitation treatment are detailed in this study. Mimics 10.0 was used to reconstruct the bone structure, ligament, and meniscus according to the pulse (...) diffusion-weighted imaging sequence (PDWI) and stir sequences of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Excluding congenital malformations and diseases of the skeletal muscle system, MRI scanning was performed on bilateral knee joints. Proton weighted sequence (PDWI sequence) and stir pulse sequence were selected for MRI. The models were imported into Geomagic Studio 11 software for refinement and modification, and 3D registration of bone structure and main soft tissue structure was performed to construct a digital model of knee joint bone structure and accessory cartilage and ligament structure. The 3D knee joint model including bone, meniscus, and collateral ligament was established. Reconstruction and image registration based on mimics and Geomagic Studio can build a 3D model of knee joint with satisfactory morphology, which can meet the requirements of teaching, motion simulation, and biomechanical analysis. (shrink)

To maintain the competitive edge and evaluating the needs of the quality app is in the mobile application market. The user’s feedback on these applications plays an essential role in the mobile application development industry. The rapid growth of web technology gave people an opportunity to interact and express their review, rate and share their feedback about applications. In this paper we have scrapped 506259 of user reviews and applications rate from Google Play Store from 14 different categories. The statistical (...) information was measured in the results using different of common machine learning algorithms such as the Logistic Regression, Random Forest Classifier, and Multinomial Naïve Bayes. Different parameters including the accuracy, precision, recall, and F1 score were used to evaluate Bigram, Trigram, and N-gram, and the statistical result of these algorithms was compared. The analysis of each algorithm, one by one, is performed, and the result has been evaluated. It is concluded that logistic regression is the best algorithm for review analysis of the Google Play Store applications. The results have been checked scientifically, and it is found that the accuracy of the logistic regression algorithm for analyzing different reviews based on three classes, i.e., positive, negative, and neutral. (shrink)

: This article analyses the roles of ‘ulamā’ in propagating the messageof Islam in the Malay world. Islam managed to reach many corners of the Malayworld in the 17th century. Evidence has indicated that ‘ulamā’ were amongthose who had participated actively in propagating the messages of Islam tothe local people. Classical Malay texts served as the best available records tounderstand the roles of these ‘ulamā’ at that time. Hence, analysis are made onselected classical Malay texts in order to understand the (...) actual roles played bythe ‘ulamā’ in the Malay world at that time in transforming the understandingof the local Malay people from the beliefs in Hindu-Buddhist and animism toIslam. Three significant roles of the ‘ulamā’ at that time have been identifiednamely propagating knowledge to the local people, religious advisors to therulers as well as engaging with the non-Muslims. (shrink)

: This article is a humble attempt at highlighting the controversiesregarding the legitimacy of popular resistance or revolutionary movement tobring down Muslim political regime that claimed to be despotic, unjust andeven un-Islamic. Having the fact on the existence of another view by majorityscholars that more inclined towards pacifist ideology which stressed onpolitical stability as a prerequisite to prosperity, the article emphasizes moreon the revolutionary school, while the second shall be highlighted when it isnecessary for comparison. Employing qualitative method of study, (...) the articleseeks to examine the arguments provided by both movements. This will bedone by analyzing their textual and rational grounds of evidences used bythe two schools to legitimize their political stance. Associating with what ishappening in Muslims nation nowadays, current study compelled to review theradical revolutionary movement from the perspective of moderate Islam schoolof thought. (shrink)

The manufacturing industry is evolving rapidly, becoming more complex, more interconnected, and more geographically distributed. Competitive pressure and diversity of consumer demand are driving manufacturing companies to rely more and more on improved knowledge management practices. As a result, multiple software systems are being created to support the integration of data across the product life cycle. Unfortunately, these systems manifest a low degree of interoperability, and this creates problems, for instance when different enterprises or different branches of an enterprise interact. (...) Common ontologies (consensus-based controlled vocabularies) have proved themselves in various domains as a valuable tool for solving such problems. In this paper, we present a consensus-based Additive Manufacturing Ontology (AMO) and illustrate its application in promoting re-usability in the field of dentistry product manufacturing. (shrink)

The Iraqi constitution of 2005 grants freedom of religious thought, belief and practice for all religions. This study was also based on the premise that the constitutional rights are not adhered to in Iraq, even by government officials, which could be due to the absence of suitable legislations subsequent to the framing of the constitutional provisions. An analytical and descriptive research design was adopted for this study. Data was collected from primary and secondary sources through documentation research and evaluation of (...) historical sources. The primary data comprised Articles of the Iraqi constitution, and a few national and international legal instruments related to religious freedom. Secondary data included empirical research studies, books, articles and other published sources. This study therefore took the form of an empirical legal research as it involved the issues of constitutional reforms in the field of religious freedom. A comparative approach was adopted in analyzing the documents about religion and politics related to both the Arab region and the West. The focus was on the measures that should be adopted to advance the dialogues of religious freedom and maintain religious neutrality in all government policies. The study found out that there were apparent contradictions between the constitutional provisions and the State Laws. Similarly, the Iraqi civil and penal codes remain silent regarding legal remedies for the violation of constitutional provisions. (shrink)

An argument that makes use of a generalization activates the prototype for the category used in the generalization. We conducted two experiments that investigated how the activation of the prototype affects the persuasiveness of the argument. The results of the experiments suggest that the features of the prototype overshadow and partly overwrite the actual facts of the case. The case is, to some extent, judged as if it had the features of the prototype instead of the features it actually has. (...) This prototype effect increases the persuasiveness of the argument in situations where the audience finds the judgment more warranted for the prototype than for the actual case, but decreases persuasiveness in situations where the audience finds the judgment less warranted for the prototype than for the actual case. (shrink)

This article presents the Islamic bioethical deliberation on the issue of sex assignment surgery for infants with disorders of sex development or intersexed as a case study. The main objective of this study is to present a different approach in assessing a biomedical issue within the medium of the Maqasid al-Shari’ah. Within the framework of the maqasidic scheme of benefits and harms, any practice where benefits are substantial is considered permissible, while those promoting harms are prohibited. The concept of Maqasid (...) al-Shari’ah which is the mechanistic interpretation of Qur’an and Hadith presents the holistic attention of Islam on many life activities, including healthcare. Indeed, this concept encompasses many aspects of worldly life, both for the human individual and collectively for the whole society. In healthcare, the practice of SAS on DSD newborns has presented an assortment of implications on the future livelihood of the affected individual. The process of decision-making seems to be very multifaceted since every element such as the determination of the ‘correct’ sex and the urgency of early surgery must consider the benefits and harms, as well as the child’s rights and best interest. The application of the concept of Maqasid al-Shari’ah, would convey a pragmatic approach that is often disregarded in Western medicine. This approach considers the right of the individual to live life optimally, individually and socially and practice his faith, precisely, in accordance with the assigned gender. (shrink)

Many students who are doing their majors in English often suffer from English speaking anxiety. The purpose of this study was to examine the reasons that hinder the process of speaking English in the students who had English as their major course of studies in a public sector university in Karachi. The study was conducted using qualitative research approach and the data was collected using focus group discussion. The participants of this study were selected using convenient sampling technique for focus (...) group discussion. The findings revealed that the pronunciation, syntactic structures, insufficient lexical knowledge, fear of negative evaluation, role of a teacher, financial and social factors are the main causes of English-speaking anxiety among English majors. Recommended measures by the students disclosed that if the institution provides them with the suggested speaking opportunities, it could help them improve their anxiety towards speaking in English. (shrink)

RésuméDepuis Ibn Mattawayh et Mānkdīm jusqu'à George Hourani et Marie Bernand, les spécialistes ont montré un intérêt constant pour la théorie de la connaissance d' ʿAbd al-Jabbār, intérêt plus grand encore depuis la parution des textes de Muʿtazilites tardifs comme leKitāb al-Muʿtamad fī Uṣūl al-Dīnd'Ibn al-Malāḥimī, et leKitāb Taṣaffuḥ al-Adillade son maître Abū al-Ḥusayn al-Baṣrī. Cet article examine la théorie de la connaissance immédiate d' ʿAbd al-Jabbār à partir de sonMughnī, ainsi que de textes écrits par ses élèves ou par (...) des Muʿtazilites tardifs. Est aussi étudié le rapport entre cette théorie et les arguments théologiques d'ʿAbd al-Jabbār. Ce travail est divisé en deux parties: en premier lieu, j'étudie la définition de la connaissance immédiate par ʿAbd al-Jabbār et les réactions de ses successeurs; en second lieu, j'analyse sa conception des types de connaissance immédiate étroitement liés à ses arguments théologiques. Et à partir de là, je montre comment le désaccord à propos du contenu de cette connaissance est à l'origine du débat opposant les théologiens musulmans (mutakallimūn) à propos de la validité de certains arguments théologiques. (shrink)

Reproductive medical technology has revolutionized the natural order of human procreation. Accordingly, some have celebrated its advent as a new and liberating determinant of kinship at the global level and advocate it as a right to reproductive health while others have frowned upon it as a vehicle for “guiltless exchange of sexual fluid” and commodification of human gametes. Religious voices from both Christianity and Islam range from unthinking adoption to restrictive use. While utilizing this technology to enable the married couple (...) to have children through the use of their own sexual material is welcome, the use of third party, surrogacy, and reproductive cloning are not in keeping with the sacrosanct principles of kinship, procreation through licit sexual intercourse, and social cohesiveness for building a cohesive family as uphold by both Christianity and Islam. To examine such larger issues emanating from these new ways of human procreation, beyond the question of legality, is a point which legal scholars in both Christianity and Islam, when issuing religious decrees, have not anticipated sufficiently. The article proposes to be an attempt to that end through a qualitative critical content analysis of selected literature written on the subject. (shrink)

The religious rites of Shia remain a mystery to Malaysia’s Sunnite majority. One such rite is the ziyarat (visits to sacred sites). This essay highlights the ritualsconducted and performed by Malaysian Shi’ites during their seasonal pilgrimage to Iran and Iraq. Their rituals and behaviors during these pilgrimages to holy shrines in Iran and Iraq were documented from the standpoint of a cultural anthropologist. Rites from two sites, Mashad and Karbala, are presented in this study. Applying Herbert Blumer’s symbolic interactionism as (...) a conceptual framework, and Charles Brooks’s methodology through social interaction and participant-observation, this essay aims to analyze and understand their rites, and the values and significance of these rites. By doing so, the axiological aspects of the rites were observed and clarified, thus enabling non Shi’ite Muslims to perceive greyest area of Shia rites, as performed by Shi’ites from Malaysia in their pilgrimage to Iran and Iraq. (shrink)

Over the years, there are various research on cultural development seen from socio-historical perspective. The uniqueness of Islam in Malay region as it is diverse and open to outside influences is important to be look at; as it differs greatly from "the Islam" that have been practiced in the Middle East. Based on the discussions, the ulemas or Muslim clerics of this region and the Malays themselves have already practiced the supra-madhhab model as proposed by many contemporary scholars. Using Shia (...) influences in the Malay culture, this paper attempt to show how sectarianism within Islam was never entertained by the Muslims in this region. In fact, Shi'ism was so embedded in Malay culture. Although being dominated by Sunnism, most of the Shia doctrines and pillars were widely accepted and embraced. The axiology of Shi'ism in Malay culture reflected in many religious texts, classical literature and cultural events. However, as sectarianism rising in this region, the Shia influence and its axiology slowly eroded and were victimized by unnecessary foreign interventions. (shrink)

This paper is diagnostic type rather than a solution one. There are claims among certain quarters that The Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 is a Western mould human rights. However, I will argue that human rights are benchmark for modernization and progress in democracy, and it is traceable within Islam. Using Syed Hussein Alatas‘s Ideal of Excellence as thereotical framework, my attempt is to highlight the memory of Tanzimat during Ottoman empire as one triumph heritage and successful story of (...) human rights modernization within Islam, and not the moment or starting point of failure for the Ottoman. Unfortunately, this modernization does not reflected in the Malay world as it is perceived as the weakening process of Ottoman. Today, similar challenges faced by Ottoman are being faced by the Malay world. Legalistic Islam and Wahhabism are among others that slowing down the modernization of human righs within Malay world. (shrink)

The machines exhibit an intelligence which is artificial intelligence, and it is the design of intelligent agents. A system is represented by an intelligent agent who perceives its environment and the success rate is maximized by taking the action. The AI research is highly specialized and there are two subfields and each communication fails often. The popular AI approaches include the traditional symbolic AI and computational intelligence. In order to optimize the seismic design of the reinforced concrete pier structure, the (...) particle swarm optimization algorithm and the reaction spectrum analysis method are combined; they establish a regular bridge of the design variable with cross-sectional characteristics and reinforcement ratios, with the target function. The seismic optimization design framework of the pier is transformed into a multi-objective optimization problem. Calculations show that the method can quickly obtain the optimal design parameters that meet multi-objective requirements. The improved PSO main program and the calling push-over program run time are 4.32 and 1347.56 s, respectively; the push-over program running time is 99.68% of the run time of the total program. Optimization of the seismic performance of the rear bridge pier is significantly improved and is more in line with the design method; the design method proposed in this article is more practical. (shrink)

In this paper I shall be looking at the state of science before and after the 17th century especially with regard to the question of the nature of scientific knowledge, specifically scientific paradigms. I will argue that some of the major differences between modern science and pre-modern science are due to (i) methodological changes, (ii) the rise of paradigmatic monism in modern science as opposed to paradigmatic pluralism in pre-modern science, (iii) the integration of science with technology after the 17th (...) century. These changes, I maintain, also redefine the role of scientific knowledge in society and culture, and bring in its wake certain problems and challenges, which in turn elicit different types of responses. Pre-modern science, I argue, are admirably suited to play a cultural and religious role, partly because of a lack of a pragmatic criterion of knowledge, and the emphasis on rational coherence. This makes enchantment of nature through science, possible. However, with the further evolution of science, especially the introduction of the experimental method and the emphasis on empiricism in the 17th century, scientific knowledge now has to conform to different criteria of knowledge -pragmatic in partleading to 'paradigmatic monism' and the consequent loss of enchantment in our conception of nature. The rise of the new science beginning in the 17th century thus brings in its wake a new set of epistemological and cultural challenges which were met with in different ways. I will then comment on the different types of responses made against the rise of the new science. (shrink)

In this paper I shall be looking at the state of science before and after the 17th century especially with regard to the question of the nature of scientific knowledge, specifically scientific paradigms. I will argue that some of the major differences between modern science and pre-modern science are due to (i) methodological changes, (ii) the rise of paradigmatic monism in modern science as opposed to paradigmatic pluralism in pre-modern science, (iii) the integration of science with technology after the 17th (...) century. These changes, I maintain, also redefine the role of scientific knowledge in society and culture, and bring in its wake certain problems and challenges, which in turn elicit different types of responses. Pre-modern science, I argue, are admirably suited to play a cultural and religious role, partly because of a lack of a pragmatic criterion of knowledge, and the emphasis on rational coherence. This makes enchantment of nature through science, possible. However, with the further evolution of science, especially the introduction of the experimental method and the emphasis on empiricism in the 17th century, scientific knowledge now has to conform to different criteria of knowledge -pragmatic in partleading to 'paradigmatic monism' and the consequent loss of enchantment in our conception of nature. The rise of the new science beginning in the 17th century thus brings in its wake a new set of epistemological and cultural challenges which were met with in different ways. I will then comment on the different types of responses made against the rise of the new science. (shrink)

On advance medical directives in Malaysia from Islamic bioethics; papers of a seminar.

Israel has always mattered to American Christians. They are among the strongest supporters of the State of Israel in the United States. The paper argues that the support that was extended by American Christians in general and the Christian Right in particular, to Israel and the Jewish people is the continuation of a long tradition in conservative American Christians rooted mainly in their theological doctrine. However, the study shows that the Christian Right is ambivalent in its view on Jews. On (...) the one hand, Jews are considered to be God’s chosen people and to have a special Biblical status and role. On the other hand, the Christian Right is allegedly anti-Semitic, as it views Jews as a condemned nation for their rejection of Christ as the Messiah, the reason for which they are unsaved and need to be converted to Christianity. Interestingly, both views, love and hatred of Jews, are based on the Biblical teachings and grounded in conservative Protestant theology; their paradoxical views on Jews are not a new phenomenon among conservative American Christians. Nevertheless, the study found that the support of the American Christians of the establishment of the State of Israel goes beyond theological doctrines or values. In fact, the humanitarian considerations of the liberal Christian and secular organizations in particular, were significant in contributing to the establishment of the Jewish state. (shrink)

This paper attempts to examine the paradigm shift in ASEAN from a state-based to a people-based organization. We argue that by adopting a people-based organization, ASEAN now enters an era of Neo-Communitarianism replacing the Old Communitarianism of the old generation of ASEAN. By using communitarian perspectives, we look at the continuities and changes in ASEAN with regard to how it deals with issues involving their members. Three important issues namely the debates on intervention principle; the adoption of the three pillars (...) of the ASEAN Community; and the inclusion of human rights are seen as the signposts where ASEAN departs from their Old to a Neo-Communitarianism. Although there have been a lot of challenges to the realization of the people-based organization, we see that the dynamics of debates and the active participation of the community in the debates show good prospects for the new paradigm to realize. In this paper, we use debate on the formation of ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (ICHR), to show the involvements of people in setting the agendas for the future ASEAN. (shrink)

Malaysia has developed its own distinct value system that is accommodative to the country’s rich tapestry of different ethnicities and religions. It is no coincidence that previous Malaysian premiers have actively promoted such system. Leading the way is Mahathir Mohamad, the country’s fourth Prime Minister, who was a vocal advocate of “Asian values,” followed by his successor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who championed the idea of Islam Hadhari. These two sets of values are not entirely incompatible to each other but rather (...) share some similarities. The concepts of “Asian values” and Islam Hadhari are premised on several fundamental tenets, which include: promoting Islamic values, championing the Malay agenda, protecting cultural values, and challenging Western cultural imperialism. Their origin can be traced from the aggressive attempt by the ruling power – the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) – Barisan Nasional (BN) to strengthen and consolidate the political supremacy of the alliance. Inevitably, both of these value systems have been subjected to many criticisms, predominantly under the pretext of misguided and ill-properly constructed values by the ruling regime to justify its autocratic rule. The very nature of such value systems has often triggered political debates in terms of defining Malaysia as a nation. The espoused agenda of Islamisation and possibly assimilation have stirred profound uneasiness among the country’s significantly large population of non-Muslims. The value system brought by “Asian values” and IslamHadhari can lead to one understanding of Mahathir’s and Abdullah’s leadership and administration in governing Islam and politics in Malaysia. (shrink)

The use of pig derivatives in medicine is forbidden in Islamic law texts, despite the fact that certain applications offer medical advantages. Pigs can be one of the best human organ hosts; therefore, using human–pig chimeras may generate beneficial impact in organ transplantation, particularly in xenotransplantation. In Islam, medical emergencies may allow some pig-based treatments and medical procedures to be employed therapeutically. However, depending on the sort of medical use, emergency situation might differ. Using Islamic legal maxim as bioethical framework, (...) the purpose of this study is to examine the use of pigs for the purpose of human–pig chimeric transplant from the perspective of Islamic bioethics. According to the findings, chimeric organ transplantation using pigs should only be done in emergency situations. (shrink)

In this article, I will view realist and non-realist accounts of scientific models within the larger context of the cultural significance of scientific knowledge. I begin by looking at the historical context and origins of the problem of scientific realism, and claim that it is originally of cultural and not only philosophical, significance. The cultural significance of debates on the epistemological status of scientific models is then related to the question of ‘intelligibility’ and how science, through models, can give us (...) knowledge of the world by presenting us with an ‘intelligible account/picture of the world’, thus fulfilling its cultural-epistemic role. Realists typically assert that science can perform this role, while non-realists deny this. The various strategies adopted by realists and non-realists in making good their respective claims, is then traced to their cultural motivations. Finally I discuss the cultural implications of adopting realist or non-realist views of models through a discussion of the views of Rorty, Gellner, Van Fraassen and Clifford Hooker on the cultural significance of scientific knowledge.Keywords: Models; Intelligibility; Scientific realism; Culture. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Cultura. International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology Jahrgang: 8 Heft: 2 Seiten: 189-208.

Functionally graded materials (FGMs) have been used in many different kinds of applications in recent years and have attracted significant research attention. However, we do not yet have a commonly accepted way of representing the various aspects of FGMs. Lack of standardised vocabulary creates obstacles to the extraction of useful information relating to pertinent aspects of different applications. A standard resource is needed for describing various elements of FGMs, including existing applications, manufacturing techniques, and material characteristics. This motivated the creation (...) of the FGM Ontology (FGMO) in 2016. Here, we present a revised and expanded version of the FGM Ontology, which includes enrichments along four dimensions: (1) documenting recent FGMs applications; (2) reorganising the framework to incorporate an updated representation of types of manufacturing processes; (3) enriching the axioms of the ontology; and (4) importing mid-level ontologies from the Common Core Ontologies (CCO) and Product Life Cycle (PLC) Ontologies. The work is being carried out within the framework of the Industry Ontology Foundry (IOF), and the ontology is conformant to Basic Formal Ontology (BFO). (shrink)

Very few studies have investigated the movement in stock returns that result due to changes in oil prices. In recent years due to cooling down of China, unveiled oil reserves of Iran, decreasing demand worldwide and discovery of shale gases the world has experienced a large fall in the oil prices. These changes are also affecting performance of manufacturing and other associated companies in countries all over the world. Pakistan has also been affected by these changes in many ways. Especially, (...) the returns on stock markets have been affected a lot by the variations in the oil prices. This paper using monthly data set from years 2014 to 2016 of the non-financial firms operated in Pakistan Stock Exchange, investigates the effect of variation in oil prices on returns on stock. Results from the panel data analysis indicate a negative relationship between the variables. Since, Pakistan is an oil importing, movement in the prices contribute towards affecting the production cost in a positive manner which in turn affects the execution of the enterprises as well as returns of the stocks negatively. (shrink)

We investigate argumentation where an expression is substituted with a less precise expression. We propose that the effect that this deprecization has on the audience be called deprecization effect. When the audience agrees more with the less precise version of the argument, there is a positive deprecization effect. We conducted an experiment where the participants were presented with a court room scenario. The results of the experiment confirm the following hypothesis: If the participants find it hard to agree with the (...) precise version of the argument and accept the use of the imprecise term, they will agree more with the imprecise version of the argument. Furthermore, we show that a person who reacts in this way to deprecization commits the fallacy of equivocation. (shrink)

The COVID-19 outbreak has disturbed the victims' economic conditions and posed a significant threat to economies worldwide and their respective financial markets. The majority of the world stock markets have suffered losses in the trillions of dollars, and international financial institutions were forced to reduce their forecasted growth for 2020 and the years to come. The current research deals with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global stock markets. It has focused on the contingent effects of previous and (...) current pandemics on the financial markets. It has also elaborated on the pandemic impact on diverse pillars of the economy. Irrespective of all these destructive effects of the pandemic, still hopes are there for a sharp rise and speedy improvement in global stock markets' performance. (shrink)

The research paper addresses the unresolved linguistic vacuum that accounts for the authorial and fictional abrogation and appropriation of language in Lessing’s works. This research paper attempts to take a holistic view of these implications. Lessing has used a number of methods to overcome this inadequacy and the abrogation and appropriation of language thus seen is clearly evident in her novel The Grass is Singing. The concepts of hegemony of language by the colonizers and their control over the means of (...) communications as well as the attempts to liberate the language by the blacks were seen in the novel. In order to analyze the post-colonial aspects of the novel, one has to keep in mind the colonial features that were seen in The Grass is Singing. Thus, the process of abrogation and appropriation will be seen through the fictional characters of Mary and Moses. With these characters Lessing highlights the larger reality of the center-margin, colonizer-colonized relation in the novel. Natives on acquiring control over the Language and the ability to control the means of communication then reveal the hollowness of the colonial ideas based on oppression and exploitation of the indigenous people. (shrink)