Abstract: The purpose of this study is to examine the self and
decision making levels of students receiving education in schools of
physical training and sports. The population of the study consisted
258 students, among which 152 were male and 106 were female
( X age=19,3713 + 1,6968), that received education in the schools of
physical education and sports of Selcuk University, Inonu University,
Gazi University and Karamanoglu Mehmetbey University. In order to
achieve the purpose of the study, the Melbourne Decision Making
Questionnary developed by Mann et al. (1998) [1] and adapted to
Turkish by Deniz (2004) [2] and the Self-Esteem Scale developed by
Aricak (1999) [3] was utilized. For analyzing and interpreting data
Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, t-test and one way anova test were used,
while for determining the difference between the groups Tukey test
and Multiple Linear Regression test were employed and significance
was accepted at P
Abstract: This article makes and attempt to disclose the
dynamics of development of social interactions in an aggravated
environment in relation to the distinctive features of religious wars
and their negative impact to the society. Crisis situations that took
place in all spheres of social life are described, on the grounds of
which the author comes to specific conclusions.
Abstract: Ramadan requires individuals to abstain from food and fluid intake between sunrise and sunset; physiological considerations predict that poorer mood, physical performance and mental performance will result. In addition, any difficulties will be worsened because preparations for fasting and recovery from it often mean that nocturnal sleep is decreased in length, and this independently affects mood and performance.
A difficulty of interpretation in many studies is that the observed changes could be due to fasting but also to the decreased length of sleep and altered food and fluid intakes before and after the daytime fasting. These factors were separated in this study, which took place over three separate days and compared the effects of different durations of fasting (4, 8 or 16h) upon a wide variety of measures (including subjective and objective assessments of performance, body composition, dehydration and responses to a short bout of exercise) - but with an unchanged amount of nocturnal sleep, controlled supper the previous evening, controlled intakes at breakfast and daytime naps not being allowed. Many of the negative effects of fasting observed in previous studies were present in this experiment also. These findings indicate that fasting was responsible for many of the changes previously observed, though some effect of sleep loss, particularly if occurring on successive days (as would occur in Ramadan) cannot be excluded.
Abstract: A cross sectional survey design was used to collect
data from 370 diabetic patients. Two instruments were used in
obtaining data; in-depth interview guide and researchers- developed
questionnaire. Fisher's exact test was used to investigate association
between the identified factors and nonadherence. Factors identified
were: socio-demographic factors such as: gender, age, marital status,
educational level and occupation; psychosocial obstacles such as:
non-affordability of prescribed diet, frustration due to the restriction,
limited spousal support, feelings of deprivation, feeling that
temptation is inevitable, difficulty in adhering in social gatherings
and difficulty in revealing to host that one is diabetic; health care
providers obstacles were: poor attitude of health workers, irregular
diabetes education in clinics , limited number of nutrition education
sessions/ inability of the patients to estimate the desired quantity of
food, no reminder post cards or phone calls about upcoming patient
appointments and delayed start of appointment / time wasting in
clinics.
Abstract: The objective of this paper is to construct a creativity
composite index designed to capture the growing role of creativity in
driving economic and social development for the 27 European Union
countries.
The paper proposes a new approach for the measurement of EU-27
creative potential and for determining its capacity to attract and
develop creative human capital. We apply a modified version of the
3T model developed by Richard Florida and Irene Tinagli for
constructing a Euro-Creativity Index. The resulting indexes establish
a quantitative base for policy makers, supporting their efforts to
determine the contribution of creativity to economic development.
Abstract: Recently, it has been suggested that thought control strategies aimed at controlling unwanted thoughts may be used to cope with paranoid thoughts in both clinical and nonclinical samples. The current study aims to examine the type of thought control strategies that were associated with the frequency of paranoid thoughts in nonclinical samples. A total of 159 Japanese undergraduate students completed the two scales–the Paranoia Checklist and the Thought Control Questionnaire. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis demonstrated that worry-based control strategies were associated with paranoid thoughts, whereas distraction- and social-based control strategies were inversely associated with paranoid thoughts. Our findings suggest that in a nonclinical population, worry-based strategies may be especially maladaptive, whereas distraction- and social-based strategies may be adaptive to paranoid thoughts.
Abstract: Current research has explored the impact of
instructional immediacy, defined as those behaviors that help build
close relationships or feelings of closeness, both on cognition and
motivation in the traditional classroom and online classroom;
however, online courses continue to suffer from higher dropout rates.
Based on Albert Bandura-s Social Cognitive Theory, four primary
relationships or interactions in an online course will be explored in
light of how they can provide immediacy thereby reducing student
attrition and improving cognitive learning. The four relationships are
teacher-student, student-student, and student-content, and studentcomputer.
Results of a study conducted with inservice teachers
completing a 14-week online professional development technology
course will be examined to demonstrate immediacy strategies that
improve cognitive learning and reduce student attrition. Results of
the study reveal that students can be motivated through various
interactions and instructional immediacy behaviors which lead to
higher completion rates, improved self-efficacy, and cognitive
learning.
Abstract: Deep and radical social reforms of the last century-s
nineties in many Eastern European countries caused changes in
Information Technology-s (IT) field. Inefficient information
technologies were rapidly replaced with forefront IT solutions, e.g.,
in Eastern European countries there is a high level penetration of
qualitative high-speed Internet. The authors have taken part in the
introduction of those changes in Latvia-s leading IT research
institute. Grounding on their experience authors in this paper offer an
IT services based model for analysis the mentioned changes- and
development processes in the higher education and research fields,
i.e., for research e-infrastructure-s development. Compare to the
international practice such services were developed in Eastern Europe
in an untraditional way, which provided swift and positive
technological changes.
Abstract: This paper discusses the issues and challenge that
academia faced in knowledge sharing at a research university in
Malaysia. The partial results of interview are presented from the
actual study. The main issues in knowledge sharing practices are
university structure and designation and title. The academia
awareness in sharing knowledge is also influenced by culture. Our
investigation highlight that the concept of reciprocal relationship of
sharing knowledge may hinder knowledge sharing awareness among
academia. Hence, we concluded that further investigation could be
carried out on the social interaction and trust culture among academia
in sharing knowledge within research/ranking university
environment.
Abstract: The study explored the question of who am I? As a (re)construction of cultural identity by delving into globalization, communication, and social change in Malta during a historical moment when Malta became a European Union Member State. Three objectives guided this qualitative study. Firstly the study reviewed European Union (EU) policies that regulate broadcasting and their implementation in Member States, whilst meeting the challenges of globalization and new media technology. Secondly the research investigated the changes of the media landscape via organizational structures, programs and television (TV) content. Finally the study explored the impact of these transformations taking place in the way Maltese live as they (re)construct their cultural identity. Despite the choices available to the Maltese audience, old local traditions and new foreign customs coexist as informants continue to (re)construct their cultural identity and define who they are.
Abstract: The production of a plant can be measured in terms of
seeds. The generation of seeds plays a critical role in our social and
daily life. The fruit production which generates seeds, depends on the
various parameters of the plant, such as shoot length, leaf number,
root length, root number, etc When the plant is growing, some leaves
may be lost and some new leaves may appear. It is very difficult to
use the number of leaves of the tree to calculate the growth of the
plant.. It is also cumbersome to measure the number of roots and
length of growth of root in several time instances continuously after
certain initial period of time, because roots grow deeper and deeper
under ground in course of time. On the contrary, the shoot length of
the tree grows in course of time which can be measured in different
time instances. So the growth of the plant can be measured using the
data of shoot length which are measured at different time instances
after plantation. The environmental parameters like temperature, rain
fall, humidity and pollution are also play some role in production of
yield. The soil, crop and distance management are taken care to
produce maximum amount of yields of plant. The data of the growth
of shoot length of some mustard plant at the initial stage (7,14,21 &
28 days after plantation) is available from the statistical survey by a
group of scientists under the supervision of Prof. Dilip De. In this
paper, initial shoot length of Ken( one type of mustard plant) has
been used as an initial data. The statistical models, the methods of
fuzzy logic and neural network have been tested on this mustard
plant and based on error analysis (calculation of average error) that
model with minimum error has been selected and can be used for the
assessment of shoot length at maturity. Finally, all these methods
have been tested with other type of mustard plants and the particular
soft computing model with the minimum error of all types has been
selected for calculating the predicted data of growth of shoot length.
The shoot length at the stage of maturity of all types of mustard
plants has been calculated using the statistical method on the
predicted data of shoot length.
Abstract: Recently, as information industry and mobile
communication technology are developing, this study is conducted on
the new concept of intelligent structures and maintenance techniques
that applied wireless sensor network, USN (Ubiquitous Sensor
Network), to social infrastructures such as civil and architectural
structures on the basis of the concept of Ubiquitous Computing that
invisibly provides human life with computing, along with mutually
cooperating, compromising and connecting networks each other by
having computers within all objects around us.
Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the capability
of wireless communication of sensor node embedded in reinforced
concrete structure with a basic experiment on an electric wave
permeability of sensor node by fabricating molding with variables of
concrete thickness and steel bars that are mostly used in constructing
structures to determine the feasibility of application to constructing
structures with USN.
At this time, with putting the pitches of steel bars, the thickness of
concrete placed, and the intensity of RF signal of a
transmitter-receiver as variables and when wireless communication
module was installed inside, the possible communication distance of
plain concrete and the possible communication distance by the pitches
of steel bars was measured in the horizontal and vertical direction
respectively. Besides, for the precise measurement of diminution of an
electric wave, the magnitude of an electric wave in the range of used
frequencies was measured by using Spectrum Analyzer. The
phenomenon of diminution of an electric wave was numerically
analyzed and the effect of the length of wavelength of frequencies was
analyzed by the properties of a frequency band area.
As a result of studying the feasibility of an application to
constructing structures with wireless sensor, in case of plain concrete,
it shows 45cm for the depth of permeability and in case of reinforced
concrete with the pitches of 5cm, it shows 37cm and 45cm for the
pitches of 15cm.
Abstract: The objectification of the Russian and Kazakh concepts, identify significant national identity, which reflects the cultural and social interpersonal are discussed in this article.
Abstract: Chakri Maha Prasart Throne Hall is the important
Audience hall in Grand Palace, Bangkok, Thailand which was
established in the early reign of King Chulalongkorn (King Rama V)
in 1882. The Throne was designed with the distinguished architecture
by significant blending of Western and Thai Traditional styles under
the Thai Social changing in Colony Era and Thai traditional culture.
The western style was represented of modernization and civilization as
the other European countries. In the other hand, Thai traditional
architecture style with national emblem or Royal emblem was shown
the status and power of Thai King as the Thai believes and culture.
Abstract: The recent development of humanoid robots has led robot designers to imagine a great variety of anthropomorphic forms for human-like machine. Which form is the best ? We try to answer this question from a double meaning of the anthropomorphism : a positive anthropomorphism corresponing to the realization of an effective anthropomorphic form object and a negative one corresponding to our natural tendency in certain circumstances to give human attributes to non-human beings. We postulate that any humanoid robot is concerned by both these two anthropomorphism kinds. We propose to use gestalt theory and Heider-s balance theory in order to analyze how negative anthropomorphism can influence our perception of human-like robots. From our theoretical approach we conclude that an “even shape" as defined by gestalt theory is not a sufficient condition for a good integration of future humanoid robots into a human community. Aesthetic perception of the robot cannot be splitted from a social perception : a humanoid robot, any how the efforts made for improving its appearance, could be rejected if it is devoted to a task with too high affective implications.
Abstract: The purpose of this research was to investigate Thai Muslims’ way of life through the way their clothes. The data of this qualitative research were collected from related documents and research reports, ancient cloths and clothing, and in-depth interviews with clothes owners and weavers.
The research found that in the 18th century Thai Muslims in the three southern border provinces used many types of clothing in their life. At home women wore plain clothes. They used checked cloths to cover the upper part of their body from the breasts down to the waist. When going out, they used Lima cloth and So Kae with a piece of Pla-nging cloth as a head scarf. For men, they wore a checked sarong as a lower garment, and wore no upper garment. However, when going out, they wore Puyo Potong. In addition, Thai Muslims used cloths in various religious rites, namely, the rite of placing a baby in a cradle, the Masoyawi rite, the Nikah rite, and the burial rite. These types of cloths were related to the way of life of Thai Muslims from birth to death. They reflected the race, gender, age, social status, values, and beliefs in traditions that have been inherited.
Practical Implication: Woven in these cloths are the lost local wisdom, and therefore, aesthetics on the cloths are like mirrors reflecting the background of people in this region that is fading away. These cloths are pages of a local history book that is of importance and value worth for preservation and publicity so that they are treasured. Government organizations can expand and materialize the knowledge received from the study in accordance with government policy in supporting the One Tambon, One Product project.
Abstract: Intellectual capital reporting becomes critical at
universities, mainly due to the fact that knowledge is the main output
as well as input in these institutions. In addition, universities have
continuous external demands for greater information and
transparency about the use of public funds, and are increasingly
provided with greater autonomy regarding their organization,
management, and budget allocation. This situation requires new
management and reporting systems. The purpose of the present study
is to provide a model for intellectual capital report in Spanish
universities. To this end, a questionnaire was sent to every member of
the Social Councils of Spanish public universities in order to identify
which intangible elements university stakeholders demand most. Our
proposal for an intellectual capital report aims to act as a guide to
help the Spanish universities on the road to the presentation of
information on intellectual capital which can assist stakeholders to
make the right decisions.
Abstract: The Muslim faith requires individuals to fast between
the hours of sunrise and sunset during the month of Ramadan. Our
recent work has concentrated on some of the changes that take place
during the daytime when fasting. A questionnaire was developed to
assess subjective estimates of physical, mental and social activities,
and fatigue. Four days were studied: in the weeks before and after
Ramadan (control days) and during the first and last weeks of
Ramadan (experimental days). On each of these four days, this
questionnaire was given several times during the daytime and once
after the fast had been broken and just before individuals retired at
night.
During Ramadan, daytime mental, physical and social activities
all decreased below control values but then increased to abovecontrol
values in the evening. The desires to perform physical and
mental activities showed very similar patterns. That is, individuals
tried to conserve energy during the daytime in preparation for the
evenings when they ate and drank, often with friends. During
Ramadan also, individuals were more fatigued in the daytime and
napped more often than on control days. This extra fatigue probably
reflected decreased sleep, individuals often having risen earlier
(before sunrise, to prepare for fasting) and retired later (to enable
recovery from the fast).
Some physiological measures and objective measures of
performance (including the response to a bout of exercise) have also
been investigated. Urine osmolality fell during the daytime on
control days as subjects drank, but rose in Ramadan to reach values
at sunset indicative of dehydration. Exercise performance was also
compromised, particularly late in the afternoon when the fast had
lasted several hours. Self-chosen exercise work-rates fell and a set
amount of exercise felt more arduous. There were also changes in
heart rate and lactate accumulation in the blood, indicative of greater
cardiovascular and metabolic stress caused by the exercise in
subjects who had been fasting. Daytime fasting in Ramadan produces
widespread effects which probably reflect combined effects of sleep
loss and restrictions to intakes of water and food.
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to examine the current
state of corporate social responsibility statements on corporate
websites of Malaysian and Singaporean corporations and analyze
how the CSR statements contribute in building a unique corporate
identity of corporations. Content analysis is employed to examine the
websites of Malaysian and Singaporean consumer corporations. It is
believed that generally most companies tend to publish and
communicate their CSR statements visibly to general stakeholders.
However, there is a significantly different outcome of the articulation
of CSR on practices on websites between Malaysian and Singaporean
consumer corporations. A number of Singaporean organizations were
found less concerned with CSR practices as compared to Malaysian
organizations. The findings indicate a need for corporations in
Malaysia and Singapore to orchestrate their core competence of CSR
activities in order to develop a unique corporate identity in a global
business environment.
Abstract: Modern organizations operate under the pressure of
dynamic and often unpredictable changes, both in external and
internal environment. Market success, in this context, requires a
particular competence in the form of flexibility, interpreted here both
on the level of individuals and on the level of organization. This
paper addresses the changes taking place in the sphere of
employment, as observed in economic entities operating on Polish
market. Based on own empirical studies, the authors focus on the
progressing trend of ‘flexibilization’ of employment, particularly in
the context of transformations in organizational structure, designed to
facilitate the transition into management by projects and
differentiation of labor forms.