A Cross-Cultural and Trans-Generational Study: Links between Psychological Characteristics and Socio-Political Tendency amongst Urban Population in Afghanistan

Aim: This study examined how psychosocial characteristics might relate to adherence to democratic values among young and older people within two different cultural contexts in Afghanistan. Method: Self-report questionnaires were employed to measure empathy, theory of mind, gender role equality, openness to experiences, suggestibility, authoritarianism and support for democracy. A sample of 669 people from younger (18–25 years) and older (45 years and above) age groups from different cultural backgrounds in Afghanistan participated in the study. A series of MANOVAs were conducted to examine the cultural (Dari, Pashto), generational and gender differences on the study variables. Dari and Pashto speakers showed equal degrees of support for authoritarianism regardless of age difference. Results: The findings reveal that Dari speakers scored more highly on empathy, theory of mind, openness, gender role equality, democratic values and lower on suggestibility than Pashto speakers. Older Pashtun participants had lower scores on theory of mind than their younger counterparts. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis yields that gender role equality, openness and suggestibility predict support for democracy with gender role equality being the strongest predictor. Conclusion: The knowledge gained here would potentially be incorporated into the development of practical guidelines to be used by policy makers, education systems and the media to facilitate the process of democratization

Interacting Spinors-Scalars and AdS/CFT Correspondence

By taking the interacting spinor-scalar theory on the $AdS_{d+1}$ space we calculate the boundary CFT correlation functions using AdS/CFT correspondence.Comment: The crucial role of the surface term in the action to generate the correlation functions quadratic in spinors is considered. LaTeX file, 8 page

Meta-analysis of the effectiveness of distance education in higher Education learning-teaching activities

Background and Objective:Higher education has faced many challenges and issues during the last two decades, among which we can mention the following: inability to produce theoretical knowledge and use of basic and theoretical knowledge produced in other countries. Of the world, the inapplicability of university education, the lack of an inappropriate relationship between the university and other social sectors, neglecting research functions and services in universities, the problem of multiple decision centers and the existence of multiple trustees on the one hand, and the excalating growth of students and applicants to universities and institutions of higher education, the slight expansion of the higher education system regardless of the existing capacity and economic, social and cultural capacity of the community to accept university graduates, reduced financial resources and pressure from society For responsibility and accountability on the other hand; the higher education system needs to maintain and improve the quality of higher education to meet these challenges. To succeed in this, all the functions of higher education in general must be considered comprehensively. In this regard, one of the measures that higher education deliberates to answer its problems was technology-based education, including distance education and distance learning. Considering the contradiction in the findings of the studies conducted on the effectiveness of distance education methods, the present study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of distance education in higher education. Methods: The research method is based on secondary analysis and meta-analysis. The statistical population consists of all quasi-experimental studies which have already been conducted on the effectiveness of various types of distance education in higher education in Iran. The whole census was used for sampling. According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 79 studies were identified as the sample size.To collect the data, a researcher-made worksheet was employed in three sections: bibliographicaldata, methodological data, and findings. To analyze the data, the effect size index and the homogeneity test were performed using CMA-Version 2.0 statistical software. Findings:The research findings indicated that all of distance education methods in higher education of Iran were effective, but this effectiveness was moderate (ES =0.526, P <0.01); the area under the normal curve, the average implementation of distance education is 69% more effective than traditional methods. In addition, the meta-regression of the effect of year on the results of research showed that with an increase in the implementation of distance education methods, .07%was added to the effectiveness of these methods. In other words, the implementation of distance education methods in higher education will become more effective over time. Conclusion: Considering that the study of moderating variables was not one of the objectives of this study, it is recommended that in future research, the impact of these components on the results of the study be examined to determine the impact of these components to explain and control the results.   ===================================================================================== COPYRIGHTS  ©2019 The author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, as long as the original authors and source are cited. No permission is required from the authors or the publishers.  ====================================================================================

M-Branes and Their Interactions in Static Matrix Model

Different BPS M-brane configurations including single and two parallel M$p$-branes ($p$= even) and M5-branes are introduced as the classical solutions of the recently proposed Static Matrix Model. Also the long range interactions of two relatively rotated M$p$-branes (one and two angles) and M$p$-brane--anti-M$p$-brane are calculated. The results are in agreement with 11 dimensional supergravity results.Comment: Latex file, 17 pages, No Figure

Short view of leukemia diagnosis and treatment in Iran

Background: Early diagnosis and treatment of leukemia patients remains a fundamental aim in clinical oncology, especially in developing country. Present study highlights the basic requirements of these patients in Iran. Better understanding of these issues may lead to improve the healthcare standards toward leukemia diagnosis and treatment. Methods: This descriptive study included 101 specialists in hematology-oncology and pathology serving in oncology centers. The participants were then asked to fill out a standard questionnaire on the issues around diagnosis and treatment of blood malignancies. Results: According to specialists, unfair distribution of facilities across the country, delayed diagnosis of disease, absence of psychological support for patients, and insufficient financial support were the main reasons of inappropriate diagnosis and treatment in leukemia patients. Conclusions: Our results show that making an amendment to health policies by preparing well-equipped medical centers in all provinces, improving the morale of patients through consultation during the process of treatment, and above all, subsiding leukemia patients' financial problems will promote the health standard regarding the leukemia diagnosis and treatment in Iran. © 2015, Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS). All rights reserved

Emotion-Related Words in Persian Dictionaries: Culture, Meaning and Emotion Theory

Aimes: Vocabulary, written or oral, may potentially mirror the attitudes, emotionality, thinking styles, mentality and cultural tendencies among people. This research aimed to scrutinise the emotion-related words (ERWs) vs. the cognition-related words (CRWs) of three Persian dictionaries (namely, Moeen, Amid and Moaser), exploring cultural differences in terms of positive/negative and somatic/non-somatic aspects. Method: All entries in these three dictionaries were scrutinised by three independent judges all of whom were psychologists. The final judgments incorporated feedback which included descriptive and qualitative comments provided by a cognitive linguist. Non-parametric data (frequencies and ratios) on somatic/non-somatic, positive/negative and common/uncommon components of the target words were analysed by SPSS for Windows v19. Results: The results show that the ratio of negative ERWs is higher than positive ERWs, compared to both positive and negative CRWs. Moreover, 30-45% of ERWs were somatic (contained body-related component/s). Conclusion: The findings appear to be in line with theories suggesting that people with Eastern cultural backgrounds are more likely to express their feelings through body-related words; a fact that may be correlated with the high level of somatisation symptoms in Eastern countries.div_PaSAmid, H. (2001, reprint). Amid Persian Dictionary. Tehran: Amir-Kabir. Clore, G. L., Ontony, A., & Foss, M. A. (1987). The psychological foundations of the affective lexicon. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53, 751-766. Costa, B. & Dewaele, J., (2012). Psychotherapy across Languages: beliefs, attitudes and practices of monolingual and multilingual therapists with their multilingual patients Language and Psychoanalysis, 1, 19-41. Eid, M., & Diener, E. (2001). Norms for experiencing emotions in different cultures: Inter- and intranational differences. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 869-885. Gibbs, R.W., Jr. (1994). The poetics of mind: Figurative thought, language, and understanding. New York: Cambridge University Press. Fussell, S. R. (2002). The verbal communication of emotion: Introduction and overview. In S. R. Fussell (ed). The verbal communication of emotions: Interdisciplinary perspectives (pp. 1-15). NJ: Lawrence Elbaum. Goddard, C. (2002). Explicating emotions across language and culture: A semantic approach. In S. R. Fussell (ed). The verbal communication of emotions: Interdisciplinary perspectives (pp. 1-15). NJ: Lawrence Elbaum. Heine, S., Lehman, D., Markus, H., & Kitayama, S. (1999). Is there a universal need for positive self-regard?. Psychological Review, 106, 766-794. Heine, S. J., & Hamamura, T. (2007). In Search of East Asian Self-Enhancement. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 11, 1-24. Farooq, S., Gahir, M.S., Okyere, E., A.J., & Oyebode, F. (1995. Somatization:A transcultural study. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 39, 883-8.) James, W. (1890). The Principles of Psychology. New York: Henry Holt. James, W. (1884). What is an emotion? Mind, 9, 188-205. Kaviani, H. & Hamedi, R. (2011). A quantitative/qualitative study on metaphors used by Persian depressed patients. Archives of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, 4, 5-13. Keshavarz, M. H. (2007). Morphological Development in the Speech of a Persian-English Bilingual Child. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 36, 255-272. King, L. A. Emmons, R. A. (1991). Psychological, physical and interpersonal correlates of emotional expressiveness, conflict and control. European Journal of Personality, 5, 131-150. Kleinman, A. and Kleinman, J. (1985). Somatization, interconnections among cultures, depressive experiences, and meaning of pain: A study in Chinese society. In A. Kleinman and B. Good (eds.). Culture and Depression (pp. 132-167). Berkeley: University of California Press Kvecses, Z. (1990). The language of love. Lewisburg, PA: Bucknell University Press. Leeper, R. W. (1965). Some needed developments in the motivational theory of emotions. In D. Levine (Ed.), Nebraska Symposium on Motivation (pp. 25-122). Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press. McBurney. D. H., (1998). Research Methods.CA: Books/Cole. McMullen, L. M. & Conway, J. B. (2002). Conventional metaphors for depression. In S. R. Fussell (Ed.), The Verbal Communication of Emotions, pp. 167-181. International Journal of Linguistics, Literature and Culture (Linqua- LLC) September 2015 edition Vol.2 No.3 ISSN 2410-6577 11 Miyamoto, Y., Uchida, Y. & Ellsworth, P. C., (2010). Culture and Mixed Emotions: Co-Occurrence of Positive and Negative Emotions in Japan and the United States. Emotion, 10, 404-415 Moeen, M. (2001, reprint). Moeen Persian Dictionary. Tehran: Adina. Niemeier, S. & Dirven, R. (1997). The language of emotions: Conceptualization, expression, and theoretical foundations. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. O'Connell, D. C. & Kowal, S. (2011). Sources of History for A Psychology of Verbal Communication-. Journal of Psycholinguist Research, 40, 29-47. Ontony, A., Clore, G. L., & Collins, A. (1988). The cognitive structure of emotions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Peng, K., & Nisbett, R. E. (1999). Culture, dialectics, and reasoning about contradiction. American Psychologist, 54, 741-754. Pennebaker, J. W. (1995). Emotion, disclosure, and health. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Pennebaker, J. W., & Seagal, J. D. (1999). Forming a story: The health benefits of narrative. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 55, 1243-1254. Pennebaker, J. W. (2011). The secret life of pronouns. New Scientist, 3, 43-45. Sadri-Afshar, G., Hakami, N. and Hakami, N. (2001). Contemporary Persian Dictionary. Tehran: Farhang-Moaser. Svensn, B. (1993). Practical Lexicography. New York: Oxford University Press. Wierzbicka, A. (1999). Emotions across languages and cultures: Diversity and universals. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press2pub4709pub

Identify Challenges of Evaluating Students' Academic Performance E-Courses

This study was performed aims to Identification challenges of evaluating Virtual College students' perceptions of electronics courses. Statistical population was consisted of all students of Virtual University. For samples, 140 students were selected using stratified random sampling. Research instrument, researcher made questionnaire was a valid and reliable. The obtained data were analyzed. The mean, standard deviation, variance analysis and paired t-tests to measure t. The results showed that the greatest challenges to the evaluation of students' views of electronic Respectively Technical problems with mean 3/71 , Pedagogical difficulties, with a mean 3/20, And Mental health problems with an average of 3.Also, the students' perspective. In the terms different And various disciplines. There was a difference. In the particular challenges of of evaluation. Yet from the perspective of students And in terms different academic, technical problems as the most important challenge of evaluating students' academic performance was introduced