Reliability and factorial validity of the standard progressive matrices among Kuwaiti children ages 8 to 15 years

The Raven Standard Progressive Matrices was administered to a sample of 6,529 children in Kuwait ranging in age from 8 to 15 years. Test-retest reliability (N = 968) ranged between .69 and .85, while Cronbach coefficients alpha ranged from .88 to .93, showing from acceptable to good temporal stability and from good to high internal consistency. The loadings of the five sets of matrices on the only salient factor ranged from .73 to .89 indicating the good factorial validity of the scale. The rtest seems useful in the Kuwaiti context.     

Satisfaction with life and death distress

A convenient sample of 568 Egyptian female nursing undergraduates (M age = 19.5 yr., SD = 1.6) was recruited. Their scores on the Satisfaction with Life Scale were correlated with scores on the Death Anxiety Scale, Arabic Scale of Death Anxiety, Death Depression Scale-Revised, and the Death Obsession Scale. Pearson correlations were significant but small [-.15, -.18, -.14 (p < .01) and -.08 (ns), respectively], indicating their predictive and practical value is negligible.     

Death obsession in Arabic and Western countries

The current investigation compared a measure of death obsession among 1,853 volunteer undergraduates from four Arab countries (Egypt, Kuwait, Lebanon, and Syria) with 791 from three Western countries, i.e., Britain, Spain, and the USA. Comparable Arabic, Spanish, and English versions of the Death Obsession Scale were used. The mean scores on death obsession for the Arabic participants were higher than those of their Western counterparts for both men and women.     

Reliability and factorial structure of the taoist-orientation scale for samples of Kuwaiti and American students

In a sample of 460 Kuwaiti undergraduates and 273 American students, the Taoist-Orientation scale had different factor patterns in an item-analysis but had good internal consistency reliability for both samples.     

Adapting Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up for infants and young children with intellectual disabilities and developmental delays in South Africa: Reflections and recommendations from local stakeholders

Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC) is an intervention targeted at enhancing the socioemotional and regulatory functioning of at-risk infants. However, to use the ABC for infants/toddlers with intellectual disabilities/developmental delays (ID/DD) and in novel cultural contexts, such as South Africa, adaptations may be required. This study aimed, therefore, to explore the opinions of clinical experts and perceptions of caregivers regarding the use of ABC for children with ID/DD in South Africa. It also sought to incorporate the experiences of families of children with ID/DD who received, and intervenors who delivered, ABC in its first implementation in South Africa. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 participants. Thematic analysis explicated 12 main themes: Intervention Strengths, Points of Concern, and Recommendations (Experts); Focus on Caregiver-child Relationship, and Intervention Targets and Duration (Caregivers); Benefits of ABC, and Cultural Considerations (ABC Recipients); Focused and Targeted, Value of Feedback, Supportive Supervision, Working Alliance, and Challenges Experienced (ABC Intervenors). Practice and training recommendations include psychoeducation for parents and training for intervenors that is ID/DD-specific, expanding supervision capacity, building intervenors’ cultural/linguistic sensitivity and competence, accessing referral networks, including local Community Health Workers as intervenors, and greater flexibility in how the sessions are organized.     

Online Reactions to the Muhammad Cartoons: YouTube and the Virtual Ummah

The publication of 12 cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad by the Danish newspaper Jyllands‐Posten on September 30, 2005, created a great deal of controversy over self‐censorship, freedom of speech, and accusations of religious incitement. Muslim activists organized protests, and later hundreds of people were killed and hundreds of others were injured due to violent reactions to the cartoons. This article focuses on how people used YouTube to react to these cartoons by analyzing 261 video clips and 4,153 comments. Results show that the majority of the video clips and comments were moderate and positive in tone toward Islam and Muhammad; however, a small percentage either called for jihad against the West or made lethal threats against the artist. Other comments carried curses or insults against Denmark, while a few others were anti‐Islamic. The fact that these online reactions were highly varied in tone suggests that the online public sphere is very much divided.     

Influence of Zn incorporation on the microstructural and magnetic properties of La0.67Sr0.33Mn1−xZnxO3 nanoparticles synthesised by the sol–gel method

Perovskite manganite nanoparticles with the chemical formula La_0.67Sr_0.33Mn_1?xZn_xO₃ (x = 0, 0.1 and 0.2) were prepared by the sol–gel process and the influence of Zn substitution on their microstructural and magnetic properties studied in detail. X-ray diffractometry (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were employed for crystal structure determination and microstructural analysis. The results of XRD analysis confirmed the polycrystalline nature and rhombohedral crystal structure with space group R(-3c) for all compositions. SEM micrographs of the samples revealed an agglomeration/well-connected appearance of the particles. The composition and uniform distribution of all the elements were established by energy-dispersive spectroscopy. TEM images clearly confirmed an almost spherical shape of the nanoparticles with an average particle size of about 11, 14 and 13 nm for the 0, 10 and 20% Zn-doped samples, respectively. The magnetic behaviour of the nanoparticles was studied at room temperature with a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) up to a field of 1.8 Tesla. These measurements established a superparamagnetic nature with a variation in the saturation magnetization (M_s) with Zn content.     

Living-Donor Kidney Transplantation in Developing Countries: Walking Sometimes the Tightrope Without a Net…

Science and Engineering Ethics -     

Muslim Discrimination: Evidence From Two Lost‐Letter Experiments

Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, there has been considerable concern about whether Muslims living in Western countries are targets of prejudice. A considerable amount of survey‐based evidence suggests that Muslims are victims of discrimination. This paper tested this hypothesis. Two lost‐letter experiments were conducted to test whether the difference in returned letters would be attributable to whether the addressee was Muslim or Swedish. The results show that Muslims receive far fewer letters than do Swedes. However, this discrimination only appears when the lost letters contain money; in which case, the finder gains by not posting the letter.