Towards a Common Civilization

An address given on 3 April 1997 at the Institute of Islamic Understanding, Malaysia (IKIM) on the occasion of the official visit of H.E. Prof. Dr Roman Herzog, President of the Federal Republic of Germany     

Evaluating the Persian Translation of the National Stressful Events Survey PTSD Short Scale in a Sample of Iranian Earthquake Survivors

In DSM-5, the APA recommended the use of the National Stressful Events Survey PTSD Short Scale, a new self-report scale for PTSD that is brief, consistent with the revised DSM-5 diagnostic criteria, and free of copyright restrictions. The present study examines the psychometric properties of the Persian translation of the scale in a sample of Iranian adults who survived an earthquake. A sample of 600 people was selected through multistage sampling and subsequently completed the scale. Results indicated that the good reliability, one-factor structure, and convergent validity of the scale observed for the original English language scale were replicated. The Persian version of the NSESSS appears to be a valid and reliable measure to assess the symptoms of DSM-5 PTSD and may contribute to increasing efforts to identify and treat PTSD in Iran.     

Acute exposure to a 50 Hz magnetic field impairs consolidation of spatial memory in rats

This study was planned to evaluate the effect of an exposure to magnetic fields on consolidation and retrieval of hippocampus dependent spatial memory using a water maze. In Experiments 1 and 2, rats were trained in a hidden version (spatial) of water maze task with two blocks of four trials. The retention of spatial memory was evaluated 48 h later. Exposure to a 50 Hz 8 mT, but not 2 mT magnetic fields for 20 min immediately after training impaired retention performance. The same time exposure shortly before retention testing had no effect. In Experiment 3, rats were trained in a cued version of water maze with two blocks of four trials. Exposure to magnetic field at 8 mT for 20 min immediately after training did not impair retention performance. These findings indicate that acute exposure to a 50 Hz magnetic field at 8 mT for short time can impair consolidation of spatial memory.     

The Relationship Between Workplace Spirituality and Work-to-Family Enrichment in Selected Public Sector Organizations in Malaysia

Journal of Religion and Health - Workplace spirituality (WPS) has been associated with various benefits, including its potential to reduce work–family conflict. Previous studies have...     

Technique Feature Analysis or Involvement Load Hypothesis: Estimating Their Predictive Power in Vocabulary Learning

Vocabulary learning has always been a great concern and has attracted the attention of many researchers. Among the vocabulary learning hypotheses, involvement load hypothesis and technique feature analysis have been proposed which attempt to bring some concepts like noticing, motivation, and generation into focus. In the current study, 90 high proficiency EFL students were assigned into three vocabulary tasks of sentence making, composition, and reading comprehension in order to examine the power of involvement load hypothesis and technique feature analysis frameworks in predicting vocabulary learning. It was unraveled that involvement load hypothesis cannot be a good predictor, and technique feature analysis was a good predictor in pretest to posttest score change and not in during-task activity. The implications of the results will be discussed in the light of preparing vocabulary tasks.     

Varying Responsibilities Across Job & Home Domains and Employee Well Being

This study is aimed at signifying the importance of the management of employee well being. We identify that when individuals are involved in different roles at job and at home, such interaction affects the wellbeing of employees. Specifically, the effect of work family conflict and facilitation on employee satisfaction is studied. Data was collected from a sample of 291 employees of different organizations in the service sector. Structured equation modeling was used to test the fit of two proposed models and to validate the hypothetical relationships among the study variables. Both, job and home directions, of work family conflict and facilitation were found related to satisfaction at job and at home. The results indicate that the management of work family conflict and facilitation is inevitable for ensuring the well being of employees.     

Parenting and Community Engagement Factors as Predictors of Religiosity Among Muslim Adolescents From Malaysia

Despite the plethora of research on correlates of adolescent religiosity, few studies have examined the contribution of social context to religiosity among non-Western Muslim samples using multidimensional religiosity measures. To address this gap, the current study investigated the influence of community engagement and parenting factors on religiosity among 596 Malaysian Muslim secondary school students (M age = 16.10, SD = .29). After controlling for gender, family structure, family income, and social desirability, the results showed that parental monitoring, mosque involvement, and school engagement significantly predicted religious worldview, whereas parental religious socialization, parental monitoring, mosque involvement, school engagement, and youth organization involvement accounted for a significant amount of the variance in religious personality. Implications for further research on socialization influences on religious development among adolescents are discussed.     

Analysis of drivers’ behavior under reduced visibility conditions using a Structural Equation Modeling approach

One way to improve safety under reduced visibility conditions (i.e., reduce the chances of visibility related crashes) is to improve drivers’ behavior under such adverse weather conditions. The aim of this paper is to thoroughly examine drivers’ responses under low visibility conditions and quantify the impacts and values of various factors found to be related to drivers’ compliance and drivers’ satisfaction with variable speed limit (VSL) and changeable message signs (CMS) instructions in different visibility, traffic conditions, and on two types of roadways; freeways and two-lane roads.The data used for the analyses were obtained from a self-reported questionnaire survey carried out among 566 drivers in Central Florida, USA. To achieve these goals, Explanatory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) approaches were adopted.The results revealed that drivers’ satisfaction with VSL/CMS was the most significant factor that positively affected drivers’ compliance with advice or warning messages displayed on VSL/CMS under different fog conditions followed by human factors. Moreover, it was found that roadway type affected drivers’ compliance to VSL instructions under medium and heavy fog conditions. Furthermore, drivers’ familiarity with VSL and human factors were the significant factors affecting drivers’ satisfaction with VSL/CMS advice under reduced visibility conditions. Based on the findings of the present study, several recommendations are suggested as guidelines to improve drivers’ behavior in such reduced visibility conditions by enhancing drivers’ compliance with VSL/CMS instructions.     

Perception of phosphenes and flashed alphabetical characters is enhanced by single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation of anterior frontal lobe: the thalamic gate hypothesis

Single pulses of transcranial magnetic stimulation (sTMS) restricted locally to the primary cortical areas for somatosensory and visual input, unlike the effects of repetitive stimulation, usually fail to elicit projected sensations. We tested the effect of sTMS over anterior frontal cortex in facilitating phosphenes from preceding sTMS over calcarine cortex, which alone was rarely effective in eliciting phosphenes. The combined sTMS elicited complex phosphenes, which changed with the site of frontal sTMS and the interstimulus interval. Our results show that sTMS over anterior frontal cortex also improved reporting of weakly illuminated, flashed four-letter stimuli, which permitted its statistical validation. We propose that the present demonstration of frontal cortical facilitation of visual awareness, when combined with the previous finding of projected paresthesias and sense of movement (Amassian et al, 1991 Brain 114 2505-2520), provide evidence of a general frontal opening effect on a thalamic gate. Opening this gate facilitates entry of information from primary cortical receiving areas to thalamus. Thereby, the reciprocal thalamocortical interrelations that subserve conscious awareness of sensory stimuli could be fostered.