Correlates and Predictors of Spiritual, Existential, and Religious Well-being among Malaysian Muslim College Students

This cross-sectional study aimed to (a) describe mean scores of spiritual involvement and beliefs, religiosity, spiritual well-being, existential well-being, and religious well-being among Malaysian Muslim college students; and (b) explore associations among these variables for this Malaysian group. A sample size of 183 Malaysian Muslim college students were recruited from government universities located in the north-eastern region of Jordan and were a self-selected convenience sample. A descriptive and correlational design was used. Results showed that participants had high average levels of spiritual involvement and beliefs, religiosity, spiritual well-being, existential well-being, and religious well-being. Moreover, spiritual involvement and beliefs, and religiosity were positively associated with spiritual well-being and its dimensions (existential well-being and religious well-being), but in the final regression model only spiritual involvement and beliefs retained a significant association after controlling for the religiosity. It was found that higher income levels and being female were associated with higher mean scores of spiritual well-being and its dimensions. In conclusion, the findings demonstrated that levels of spiritual involvement and beliefs, and religiosity have a positive impact on levels of spiritual well-being, existential well-being, and religious well-being. Furthermore, the high mean levels of spirituality and religiosity variables in this study confirm that spirituality and religiosity are important to the lives of Malaysian Muslim college students and the implications for well-being and education are explored. This study supported the multidimensional nature of spirituality and the notion that spirituality and religiosity are two distinct, but related, concepts. Keywords: spiritual well-being, religious well-being, existential well-being, spiritual involvement and beliefs, religiosit

Psychometric Evaluation of an Arabic Version of the Spiritual Involvement and Beliefs Scale in Jordanian Muslim College Nursing Students

A review of the nursing and health-related literature on spirituality revealed that no valid and reliable research tool exists in Arabic for measuring spiritual beliefs and practices for Arab Muslim population. This study translated the Spiritual Involvement and Beliefs Scale (SIBS) into Arabic and examined the psychometric properties of the Arabic version in a sample of Jordanian Arab Muslim nursing students by examining  its factorial validity,  convergent-related validity, and internal reliability. A convenience sample of 394 Jordanian nursing college students (all Muslims) were recruited from governmental universities in the northern region of Jordan. The SIBS was translated from English to Arabic using a back-translation method, reviewed by an expert panel for lingual, cultural and spiritual consistency, and was piloted with 15 Jordanian nursing college students. Correlational and factor analysis were used. The internal consistency reliability of the Arabic SIBS was acceptable, with alpha coefficient of 0.76. Evidence of construct validity was supported by significant moderate to high positive correlations between the Arabic SIBS and both religiosity and the spiritual well-being (convergent validity), and by a resultant three-factor structure to the SIBS which was simple, easily interpretable and had a conceptual meaning. The resultant three factors were labeled as “Spiritual Beliefs”, “Spiritual Involvement”, and “Spiritual Involvement and Beliefs Outcomes” subscales. In conclusion, these preliminary findings suggest that the Arabic version of the SIBS can be used as an instrument to measure levels of spiritual beliefs and practices in Arab Muslim populations. In addition, it would appear that spiritual beliefs and practices, spiritual well-being, and religiosity are important dimensions for Jordanian Muslim nursing students which have potential implications for nursing education, practice, and research. Keywords: Arab Muslims, nursing students, translation, Arabic Spiritual Involvement and Beliefs Scale, psychometric propertie

Clinical profile of paediatric sickle cell disease at a reference hospital in North–eastern Nigeria

Background: Sickle cell disorders (SCD) are the commonest inherited haemoglobin (Hb) disorders. Globally, about 300,000 babies are born annually with these conditions. The clinical profiles of SCD have been described in many parts of the world. These however have not been adequately investigated in some parts of Nigeria. This study evaluated the clinical features, Hb phenotype and complications of children with SCD being managed at a Paediatric haematology clinic in Northern Nigeria. Methods: A prospective observational study of steady state SCD patients aged 2 – 16 years, was conducted from January, 2019  -October, 2020. Historical and examination findings were documented. Analysis of data was done with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0. Results: One hundred children were studied. Mean age was 6.97 ± 3.63 years. Male: female ratio was 1.6:1.Mean weight and mean height were lower than reference standards (t= -1.20, p= 0.14), (t= - 0.66, p= 0.27) respectively. Mean age at diagnosis was 13.24 ±14.83 months, and at first presentation was 13.86 ±17.51 months, 58.5% of subjects were adequately vaccinated for age, while 92% had a Hb phenotype of SS. Acute chest syndrome occurred more frequently in children aged 9-12 years (χ2= 11.59, P ˂ 0.001), and in those with severe bacterial infections (χ2= 7.41, p= 0.006). Conclusion: The complications of Paediatric SCD in this part of North-Eastern Nigeria mirrors those in other parts of the country. Socio-economic class, Hb phenotype and vaccination status had no influence on the development of complications

Nutritional Status among Children under Five Years in Amman, Jordan

Objectives: There is scarcity of data on malnutrition among children in Jordan. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess the nutritional status and estimate the prevalence rates of stunting, underweight, and wasting and their associated factors among children under five. Subjects and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between January and April 2017 among children under five years in Amman, Jordan. All Jordanian children under five years who visited the selected health centers for vaccination or accompanied their mothers during the study period were included in this study. Mothers or caregivers of children were interviewed face-to face using the study questionnaire. Weight in kilograms and height in centimeters were measured for all children. Anthropometric indices were calculated using reference medians recommended by the World Health Organization. Results: This study included a total of 923 (463 boys and 460 girls) children. The prevalence rates of stunting, underweight, and wasting were 6.2%, 3.8%, and 2.8%, respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that low birth weight was significantly associated with stunting (OR = 2.9, 95% CI: 1.4,6.0; p-value=0.003) and underweight (OR =5.6, 95% CI: 2.5,12.3, p-value <0.001). Compared to exclusive breastfeeding, mixed feeding was associated with increased odds of stunting (OR =2, 95% CI: 1.1-3.9, p-value =0.029) and underweight (OR = 2.2, 95% CI: 1.002, 5.0; p = 0.049). None of the variables were significantly associated with wasting. Conclusions: The prevalence rates of stunting, wasting and undernutrition among children under five years in Jordan are low. Low birth weight and mixed feeding were associated with higher rates of malnutrition

Malware Propagation Modelling in Peer-to-Peer Networks: A Review

yesPeer-to-Peer (P2P) network is increasingly becoming the most important means of trading content throughout the last years due to the constant evolvement of the cyber world. This popularity made the P2P network susceptible to the spread of malware. The detection of the cause of malware propagation is now critical to the survival of P2P networks. This paper offers a review of the current relevant mathematical propagation models that have been proposed to date to predict the propagation behavior of a malware in a P2P network. We analyzed the models proposed by researchers and experts in the field by evaluating their limitations and a possible alternative for improving the analysis of the expected behavior of a malware spread

Development of hand-arm model rig for tremor excitation

This paper describes the development of a handarm model rig to simulate human tremor behaviour. The experimental rig is designed as an apparatus to induce vibration along a hand-arm model. An Intra Vernacular (IV) Training arm is used as the handarm model. Displacement and acceleration behaviour at three selected points along the handarm model were recorded by mean of piezoelectric accelerometer. The data from the experiment can be used for further analysis of the human hand-arm tremor especially for Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. Results from the experiments are raw data which can later be used in designing an appropriate instrument that can suppress the hand tremor

The effects of residue management practices on phosphorus and potassium uptake in pineapple

Pineapple residue in Malaysia is usually burnt. The need for sustainable agricultural development coupled with the 1997 haze problem in Southeast Asia has led to the calls for "zero burning". A study was initiated at Simpang Renggam Pineapple Estate, Johore to quantify P and K uptake in pineapple parts and to also compare the efficiency of P and K uptake for burn and no-burn practices. At maturity (sixteen months after planting), three plants were sampled from each treatment and partitioned into roots, stem, leaves, fruit, peduncle and crown, and their dry weight, P and K concerntrations determined. Irrespective of treatment difference, P uptake was highest in the fruit, followed by the leaves, stem, crown and roots. The order of K was fruit, stem, peduncle, crown and roots. Between 66 and 58% of the total P and K taken up is recycled and the rest (42 and 34%) is lost through harvest. In situ burning of pineapple leaves before planting does not improve P and K uptake and yield. Major difference in P efficiency for butn (51.60%) and no-burn (53.21%) under fertilized was not observed

Identifikasi Pemahaman Konsep Tingkat Representasi Makroskopik, Mikroskopik, dan Simbolik pada Materi Ikatan Kimia

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pemahaman konsep siswa tingkat representasi makroskopik, mikroskopik, dan simbolik pada materi ikatan kimia di SMAT Wira Bhakti Gorontalo. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian deskriptif kualitatif yang diujikan kepada 57 siswa kelas X SMAT Wira Bhakti Gorontalo. Pengumpulan data menggunakan tes diagnostik tiga tingkat. Level pemahaman siswa dibagi menjadi tiga kategori yaitu paham konsep, tidak paham konsep, dan miskonsepsi, yang terdiri dari tiga tingkat representasi yaitu makroskopik, mikroskopik, dan simbolik. Hasil penelitian menunjukan bahwa pada tingkat representasi makroskopik siswa paham konsep sebesar 9,20%, tidak paham konsep sebesar 23,60%, dan miskonsepsi sebesar 67,20%. Pada tingkat representasi mikroskopik siswa paham konsep sebsar 15,75%, siswa tidak paham konsep sebsar 17%, dan miskonsepsi sebesar 67,25%. Pada tingkat representasi simbolik siswa paham konsep sebsar 7,17%, tidiak paham konsep sebesar 23,17%, dan miskonsepsi sebesar 69,67%. Sehingga dapat ditemukan bahwa ketiga tingkat representasi berada dikategori miskonsepsi dengan kriteria tinggi, yaitu pada makroskopik sebesar 67,20%, mikroskopik sebesar 67,25%, dan simbolik sebesar 69,67%. Sehingga rata-rata totalnya didapatkan sebesar 68,04%. Berdasarkan presentase ditemukan bahwa pengetahuan siswa kelas X SMAT Wira Bhakti Gorontalo termasuk pada kategori miskonsepsi dengan kriteria tinggi

Studies on seed germination and growth in weed species of rice field under salinity stress.

An investigation was made to see the salt tolerance of 10 weed species of rice. Properly dried and treated seeds of weed species were placed on 9 cm diameter petridishes lined with Whatman No. 1 filter paper under 6 salinity regimes, viz. 0 (control), 4, 8, 16, 24 and 32 dS m-1. The petri dishes were then kept in germinator at 25±1.0oC and 12 hr light. The number of germinated seeds were recorded daily. The final germination percentage, germination index (GI), seedling vigour index, mean germination time and time for 50% germination were estimated. Root and shoot lengths of the weed seedlings were measured at 20 days after salt application and relative growth values were calculated. Results revealed that salinity decreased final germination percentage, seed of germination as measured by GI, and shoot and root length in all the species. Germination of most of the weed seeds was completely arrested (0) at 32 dS m-1 salinity except in E. colona (12%) and C. iria (13.9%). The species C. iria, E. colona, J. linifolia and E. crusgalli showed better germination (above 30%) upto 24 dS m-1 salinity level and were regarded as salt-tolerant weed species. J. linifolia, F. miliacea, L. chinensis and O. sativa L. (weedy rice) were graded as moderately tolerant and S. zeylanica, S. grosus and C. difformis were regarded as least tolerant weed species