Understanding Self-gift Consumer Behaviour (SGCB) in Islamic Religious Occasions: Ramadan & Eid

This dissertation aims to understand self-gift consumer behaviour (SGCB) in Islamic religious occasions; in particular, during Ramadan and Eid. In specific, it is aiming to understand its nature, the motivations that trigger this behaviour and finally the emotions associated with such behaviour. Due to the novelty of this research and the subjective nature of SGCB, exploratory in-depth interviews were employed. This research used the snowball sampling technique; where twelve Arab Muslim consumers were chosen to take part in the interviews. This study confirms that SGCB does exist in Islamic cultures. The findings not only confirmed the findings of the existing literature but it also added new insights such as the role of religion, family and society in influencing self-gift giving

Mathematical Model Describes Treatment of Waste Water Using Modified Activated Carbon

The proposed mathematical model covered in this paper includes the most important parameters associated with the rates of adsorption and desorption. Also, partial pressure is included since it is an important factor that affects rates of adsorption and desorption. The study focuses on the effects of the constant rates on adsorption of pollutant concentrations for benzene, nickel, cadmium, and copper using modified active carbon. When the rate constant of adsorption decreases, the pollutant concentration will also decrease, yielding high acceptable evidence of the logic of the proposed mathematical model. Also, the proposed model is compared with experimental data and other models to give good outcomes with high accuracy

The dark side of social movements: Social identity, non-conformity, and the lure of conspiracy theories

Social change does not always equal social progress--there is a dark side of social movements. We discuss conspiracy theory beliefs –beliefs that a powerful group of people are secretly working towards a malicious goal–as one contributor to destructive social movements. Research has linked conspiracy theory beliefs to anti-democratic attitudes, prejudice and non-normative political behavior. We propose a framework to understand the motivational processes behind conspiracy theories and associated social identities and collective action. We argue that conspiracy theories comprise at least two components – content and qualities— that appeal to people differently based on their motivations. Social identity motives draw people foremost to contents of conspiracy theories while uniqueness motives draw people to qualities of conspiracy theories

Understanding Self-gift Consumer Behaviour (SGCB) in Islamic Religious Occasions: Ramadan & Eid

This dissertation aims to understand self-gift consumer behaviour (SGCB) in Islamic religious occasions; in particular, during Ramadan and Eid. In specific, it is aiming to understand its nature, the motivations that trigger this behaviour and finally the emotions associated with such behaviour. Due to the novelty of this research and the subjective nature of SGCB, exploratory in-depth interviews were employed. This research used the snowball sampling technique; where twelve Arab Muslim consumers were chosen to take part in the interviews. This study confirms that SGCB does exist in Islamic cultures. The findings not only confirmed the findings of the existing literature but it also added new insights such as the role of religion, family and society in influencing self-gift giving

Mathematical Model Describes Treatment of Waste Water Using Modified Activated Carbon

The proposed mathematical model covered in this paper includes the most important parameters associated with the rates of adsorption and desorption. Also, partial pressure is included since it is an important factor that affects rates of adsorption and desorption. The study focuses on the effects of the constant rates on adsorption of pollutant concentrations for benzene, nickel, cadmium, and copper using modified active carbon. When the rate constant of adsorption decreases, the pollutant concentration will also decrease, yielding high acceptable evidence of the logic of the proposed mathematical model. Also, the proposed model is compared with experimental data and other models to give good outcomes with high accuracy

Prevalence of psychological distress and associated factors among Omani women diagnosed with breast cancer: a single-centre, cross-sectional study

Objectives To determine the prevalence of psychological distress (ie, anxiety and depressive symptoms) among Omani women diagnosed with breast cancer (BC) and to investigate associations with socio-demographic factors.Design A cross-sectional, self-administered survey was conducted between September 2021 and June 2022.Setting Sultan Qaboos Comprehensive Cancer Care and Research Centre (Muscat, Oman).Participants Adult Omani women diagnosed with BC during the study period.Outcome measures Data regarding anxiety and depressive symptoms were collected using an Arabic version of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Socio-demographic and clinical information was obtained from the participants and their hospital medical records.Results 190 Omani women diagnosed with BC were invited to participate in the study, of whom 171 participated (response rate: 90.0%). The mean age was 50.3±10.9 years. 52.3% of participants had been diagnosed with BC at stages III or IV and 28.9% had metastasis. 29 women (17.0%) exhibited depressive symptoms (HADS-D score: ≥8), while 37 (21.6%) exhibited anxiety symptoms (HADS-A score: ≥8). Women with anxiety symptoms were almost 15-times more likely to have depressive symptoms than those without anxiety symptoms (OR: 14.87, p<0.001). Younger women were less likely to exhibit depressive symptoms than older women (≤39 vs ≥60 years, p=0.050; 40–59 vs ≥60 years, p=0.005). Women at the school/diploma education level were less likely to have depressive symptoms than those at college/university level (OR: 0.19, p=0.017).Conclusions More than half of the women surveyed had been diagnosed at an advanced stage, with up to 21.6% presenting with symptoms of anxiety and depression. Healthcare professionals in Oman should consider additional screening for anxiety and depressive symptoms in this group and encourage patients with BC to disclose emotional information during consultations, particularly for those aged ≥60 years

Defective T-cell response to COVID-19 vaccination in acute myeloid leukaemia and myelodysplastic syndromes

Limited data exist on COVID-19 vaccination efficacy in patients with acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplasia with excess blasts (AML/MDS-EB2). We report results from a prospective study, PACE (Patients with AML and COVID-19 Epidemiology). 93 patients provided samples post-vaccine 2 or 3 (PV2, PV3). Antibodies against SARS-COV-2 spike antigen were detectable in all samples. Neutralization of the omicron variant was poorer than ancestral variants but improved PV3. In contrast, adequate T-cell reactivity to SARS-COV-2 spike protein was seen in only 16/47 (34%) patients PV2 and 23/52 (44%) PV3. Using regression models, disease response (not in CR/Cri), and increasing age predicted poor T cell response.</p

Managing the research imagination? Globalisation and research in higher education

This paper argues that, during the late twentieth and early twenty‐first centuries, universities have been captured by neo‐liberal regimes of truth. We suggest that this may inhibit the ‘research imagination’ within universities and, consequently, their role in the democratisation of knowledge. We consider the role of capital in the globalisation of higher education, and the resulting global circulation of people and knowledge. We then examine how what we have termed the ‘neo‐liberal colonisation’ of higher education has been achieved, ending with a discussion of the implication of these processes for the idea of the research imagination in universities