Investigation of Po-210 and Heavy Metal Concentration in Seafood Due to Coal Burning – Case Study in Malaysia

A systematic study on the natural radionuclide Po-210 and heavy metals in marine organisms has been undertaken to establish a baseline data on the contamination of a coal burning power plant area. The organism samples have been collected from the local fish market which was very near to Sultan salauddin abdul aziz power plant and analysed for Po-210 and heavy metals using alpha spectrometer and ICP-MS, respectively. The content of Po-210 and heavy metals in analyzed organisms varies according to the feeding habits and ecological niche

Interactions on Government Facebook Pages: An Empirical Analysis

There is a growing body of research on government use of Facebook (FB) and citizen engagement; however there is a paucity of empirical research that identify the extent of agency and audience engagement on government FB pages. Little is known if different types of agencies engage differently in FB. Based on a large-scale world-first empirical analysis of over 145 federal government FB pages, this article presents insights on online participation in terms of government posts and citizen interactions observed over three years (2013-2016) across different types of agencies (i.e. operational, policy, regulatory and specialist). Preliminary findings show convincing agency and audience engagement on FB pages as a platform for sharing and communicating. However there are differences among the agencies in terms of audience and agency engagement relative to post activity and interactions. The findings have implications for federal government agencies, both from benchmarking and capability building perspectives

Keeping the State Out: The Separation of Law and State in Classical Islamic Law

The implementation and enforcement of Islamic law, especially Islamic criminal law, by modem-day Muslim nation-states is fraught with controversy and challenges. In Pakistan, the documented problems and failures of the country\u27s attempt to codify Islamic law on extramarital sexual relations have led to efforts to remove rape cases from Islamic law courts to civil law courts. In striking contrast to Pakistan\u27s experience, the Republic of the Maldives recently commissioned a draft of a penal law and sentencing guidelines based on Islamic law that abides by international norms. The incorporation of Islamic law into the legal systems of various countries around the world makes understanding Islamic criminal law especially important. In Crime and Punishment in Islamic Law: Theory and Practice from the Sixteenth to the Twenty-first Century, Rudolph Peters presents a thorough survey of Islamic law from the Ottoman period to today. He situates the reader by first discussing classical Islamic-law doctrines regarding crime, evidence, punishment, and the principles underlying criminal law. After providing a doctrinal foundation, he examines how the doctrine was and is actually used in practice. Since the enforcement and practice of criminal law has varied greatly in the Muslim world from region to region and from time to time, Peters focuses his study on examining the practice in one specific state-the Ottoman Empire (p. 3). He then discusses the wave of modernization of criminal law that began in the mid-nineteenth century, usually with the onset of colonialism. Peters concludes by examining Islamic criminal law today, and especially its resurgence in various countries around the world (p. 2). In his examination of classical doctrine and its implementation in the Ottoman Empire, Peters shows the complexity of the Islamic legal system and its doctrine. He points out that the physical punishments often associated with Islamic law in the popular imagination (amputation, stoning, etc.) were rarely applied (pp. 92-93, 100). One aspect of the Islamic system that Peters does not discuss in depth, however, is the overall relationship between the law and the state in the classical system; during the Ottoman era this relationship underwent significant changes causing reverberations still being felt in the present day. This Notice examines the changing relationship between Islamic law and the state, and its political implications for today. Part I analyzes Peters\u27 arguments about criminal law in the Ottoman Empire. Part II examines the classical relationship in which the formulation of the law remained outside the province of the state, and contrasts the classical period with the changes that took place under the Ottoman Empire. Finally, Part III considers possible modern-day implications of both the classical and Ottoman systems

Empirical Analysis of Posts and Interactions: A case of Australian Government Facebook Pages

Research on government use of Facebook (FB) and citizen engagement has increased in the last five years or so; however there is a scarcity of empirical research that identify the extent of agency and audience engagement on government FB pages. Questions still remains unanswered if agencies with dissimilar functional focus engage differently in FB. Based on a large-scale world-first empirical analysis of over 147 federal government FB pages, this article presents insights on online participation in terms of government posts and citizen interactions observed over three years (2013-2016) across different types of agencies (i.e. operational, policy, regulatory and specialist). Preliminary findings show convincing agency and audience engagement on FB pages as a platform for sharing and communicating. However there are differences among the agencies in terms of audience and agency engagement relative to post activity and interactions. The findings have implications for federal government agencies, both from benchmarking and capability building perspectives. Available at: https://aisel.aisnet.org/pajais/vol8/iss4/6

Keeping the State Out: The Separation of Law and State in Classical Islamic Law

The implementation and enforcement of Islamic law, especially Islamic criminal law, by modem-day Muslim nation-states is fraught with controversy and challenges. In Pakistan, the documented problems and failures of the country\u27s attempt to codify Islamic law on extramarital sexual relations have led to efforts to remove rape cases from Islamic law courts to civil law courts. In striking contrast to Pakistan\u27s experience, the Republic of the Maldives recently commissioned a draft of a penal law and sentencing guidelines based on Islamic law that abides by international norms. The incorporation of Islamic law into the legal systems of various countries around the world makes understanding Islamic criminal law especially important. In Crime and Punishment in Islamic Law: Theory and Practice from the Sixteenth to the Twenty-first Century, Rudolph Peters presents a thorough survey of Islamic law from the Ottoman period to today. He situates the reader by first discussing classical Islamic-law doctrines regarding crime, evidence, punishment, and the principles underlying criminal law. After providing a doctrinal foundation, he examines how the doctrine was and is actually used in practice. Since the enforcement and practice of criminal law has varied greatly in the Muslim world from region to region and from time to time, Peters focuses his study on examining the practice in one specific state-the Ottoman Empire (p. 3). He then discusses the wave of modernization of criminal law that began in the mid-nineteenth century, usually with the onset of colonialism. Peters concludes by examining Islamic criminal law today, and especially its resurgence in various countries around the world (p. 2). In his examination of classical doctrine and its implementation in the Ottoman Empire, Peters shows the complexity of the Islamic legal system and its doctrine. He points out that the physical punishments often associated with Islamic law in the popular imagination (amputation, stoning, etc.) were rarely applied (pp. 92-93, 100). One aspect of the Islamic system that Peters does not discuss in depth, however, is the overall relationship between the law and the state in the classical system; during the Ottoman era this relationship underwent significant changes causing reverberations still being felt in the present day. This Notice examines the changing relationship between Islamic law and the state, and its political implications for today. Part I analyzes Peters\u27 arguments about criminal law in the Ottoman Empire. Part II examines the classical relationship in which the formulation of the law remained outside the province of the state, and contrasts the classical period with the changes that took place under the Ottoman Empire. Finally, Part III considers possible modern-day implications of both the classical and Ottoman systems

Understanding user participation in Australian Government tourism Facebook page

With Facebook being the largest social network site (SNS), can government use Facebook (FB) to increase citizen participation in delivering and promoting their services? This paper presents the case of government use of social media for tourism to provide a general understanding online government and user participation in the Tourism government FB page. This is a case study research into the government FB page of Tourism Australia. FB page wall posts and comments are analysed quantitatively using content analysis to determine what type of online participation is visible in these sites and what the agencies are trying to achieve. Further, the paper employed a spectrum of online engagement matrix to identify the type of engagement being attained by the page. Findings show that the page has successfully served as a platform for its audience to share their Australian experience and it is being used for the purpose of announcing, informing and involving type of online engagement. This is an example of a crowdsourcing endeavour where tourism experiences and stories and pictures are being sourced from public. The research contributes to gaining a better understanding of government FB phenomenon, in particular for Australian context.<br /

A conceptual framework of influences on a non-profit GLAM crowdsourcing initiative: A socio-technical perspective

Crowdsourcing theory and research is in its infancy and fragmented with little theoretical agreement. This paper presents a conceptual framework that provides a holistic view of key influences on a non-profit GLAM (galleries, libraries, archives, museums) crowdsourcing initiative through an interpretive analysis. Three key themes of influences emerged from the case analysis: motivation, relational mechanisms and technology; however they were found to be mutually entangled in practice. The conceptual framework acknowledges the role of both crowd participants and organisational stakeholders through recursive use and interaction over time, and the emergence of multiple configurations of influences on crowdsourcing initiatives while aligning motivations of the crowd with that of the crowdsourcing initiative (i.e. motive alignment). The framework developed in this study extends existing knowledge of the key influences on non-profit crowdsourcing in a GLAM context and clarifies and expands our understanding of this phenomenon from a socio-technical perspective

Crowdsourcing motivations in a not-for-profit GLAM context : the Australian newspapers digitisation program

Crowdsourcing in recent times has become popular among not-for-profits as a means of eliciting members of the public to contribute to activities that would normally have been carried out by staff or by contracting external expertise. The GLAM (galleries, libraries, archives, museums) sector does have a history of involving online volunteers (e.g. reviewing books). Extending that tradition, some GLAM institutions are engaging in crowdsourcing projects to enhance and enrich their collections. But what motivates the public to participate in these crowdsourcing activities? Understanding the unique motivations of participants is needed to establish a motivational framework for GLAM organisations in their not-for-profit context. We present findings from a study of the motivational factors affecting participation in the Australian Newspapers Digitisation Program (ANDP) by the National Library of Australia (NLA). Based on motivational theories and frameworks the study shows that the participants are motivated by a complex framework of personal, collective and external factors. Participants were highly intrinsically motivated, but valued altruistic and community motivations as well. Community and external factors played a vital role in their continued involvement. The paper concludes with a conceptual framework of the motivational factors for crowdsourcing participants in a GLAM context based on the motivational dynamics observed in the ANDP case.<br /

TWEETING FROM THE DANGER ZONE: THE USE OF TWITTER BY EMERGENCY AGENCY DURING MITCHELL FACTORY FIRE IN CANBERRA

Emergency Agencies have shown a significant interest in the use of social media such as Twitter and Facebook for interacting with partner institutions and citizens for distribution of vital disaster information. This paper is a case study about how social media was used in a crisis situation, being the Mitchell factory fire, in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT). In particular this paper look at how one social media site; Twitter, was used. Twitter became a way for many Canberra citizens to find out essential information on the factory fire that broke out on September 16th 2011.This case study looks at the correlation of offline events to online events, the impact and effect of social media in an emergency context and the experience of the ACT Emergency Services Agency (ESA) Media team’s use of Twitter during the day’s events and the lessons they have learnt from this experience