A model of spirituality for ageing Muslims

Spirituality’s influence on general well-being and its association with healthy ageing has been studied extensively. However, a different perspective has to be brought in when dealing with spirituality issues of ageing Muslims. Central to this perspective is the intertwining of religion and spirituality in Islam. This article will contribute to the understanding of the nature of Islamic spirituality and its immense importance in the life of a practicing ageing Muslim. Consequently, it will help care providers to include appropriate spiritual care in the care repertoire of a Muslim care recipient. It is assumed that the framework for a model of spirituality based on Islamic religious beliefs would help contextualise the relationship between spirituality and ageing Muslims. Not only challenges, but also the opportunities that old age provides for charting the spiritual journey have underpinned this model

Sex ratio of the sole Euryglossa orientalis (Bl. & Schn.) (family: Soleidae) from the Karachi coast

This paper present a study on sex ratio and reveals segregation or aggregation of males and females in accordance with environmental conditions, the differential behaviour of sexes, and due to fishing

The socio-economic effects of digital technologies on Australian academics and farmers

This thesis investigated the social and economic effects of digital technologies, and in particular information and communication technologies (ICTs), on the Australian academics and farmers in the context of an ongoing emphasis by the Australian government on the digital economy. I am motivated to conduct the research because politicians and scholars feel that the digital economy is a way ahead for improving the living standards of general Australians. Although a substantial research initiative has already been undertaken by previous researchers to examine the benefits of modern ICTs (information and communication technologies) in society, the extent of benefits (or problems) associated with the expansion of digital infrastructure facilities are yet to be estimated for at least two sectors of the economy – higher education and agriculture. In the given context of the Australian Government’s policy on the digital future, this thesis aims to study the effects of digital technologies, particularly ICTs, on academics and farmers in Australia. The direction of effects encompasses social and economic aspects only. I used three types of theories: affordance theory; Ajzen and Fishbein’s (1980) theory of reasoned action; and the theory of (research) production function. With regard to research methodology, I used qualitative, quantitative and a combination of both (i.e. mixed) research approaches. The data used in this study was drawn from two sources: – (i) a primary source and (ii) a secondary source. The source of the primary data was academic teaching staff members of the University of Southern Queensland, and the source of secondary data was the Australian Department of Agriculture. The thematic analysis showed that, because of the use of eLearning environments, the teaching academics at USQ perceived that their workload had increased. This was labelled as 'perceived increased workloads' in this study. From this study, three broad themes emerged. These themes were classified as temporal, pedagogical and technical limitations, and were attributed to the 'perceived workloads?' of the academics. This was the theoretical knowledge contribution of this thesis. Using factor analysis , I found evidence of both positive and negative attitudes of university academic staff members to ICTs. Next, using Ajzen and Fishbein’s (1980; 2005) theory of reasoned action, a and cross-tabulation analysis, I found that the native-English language status of the academic had a statistically significant association with the variation of attitudes to ICTs. My non-parametric regression analysis also confirmed a statistically significant relationship between the language status of the teaching academics and the variations on their attitudes to ICTs. Further, Using primary survey data and regression analysis, I found a statistically significant relationship between the teaching academics’ use of the Internet per week and their research performances. Finally, using secondary data, the theory of production of microeconomics and regression analysis, I found the relationship between Australian farmers’ expenditure for telephone facilities (a variable of CTs) and their agricultural revenue. In this study, I found a statistically significant positive relationship between the farmers’ agricultural revenue and the farmers’ expenditure on their uses of telephones. The contributions of this research to existing knowledge are as follows. From the teaching academics’ perspective, the affordances of an eLearning environment encompass pedagogical, temporal and technological limitations that contributed to the teaching academics’ 'perceived workloads'? Secondly, the empirical research supports Ajzen and Fishbein’s (1980) theory regarding the relationship between the native language status of the academics, which is a social-demographic factor, and their attitudes to using ICTs. Thirdly, the empirical research supports the idea that the Internet is an important physical factor of the research production function. The contribution of the Internet is obvious because it represents a form of digital infrastructure facility. In the future, research should model a research (or knowledge) production function that incorporates the digital capital in the production function; otherwise, the study may generate biased results because of the endogeneity problem. Fourthly, and finally, I have found that telecommunication is an important physical factor of agricultural production, which means that, similarly to manufacturing and service sectors, the agricultural sector can reap benefits from the use of digital technologies, which has been so far largely unreported in the literature. The implications of digital futures lie in a number of government initiatives directed at the university and agricultural sectors of the economy. This includes overcoming the limitations encountered by academics and expanding the national broadband network infrastructure facilities to remote Australian regions

Access to broadband internet and labour force outcomes: a case study of the Western Downs Region, Queensland

This paper examines the causal effect of household access to broadband Internet on individuals’ labour market outcomes in an Australian rural and regional context. This study uses the survey data of 391 households randomly selected from the Western Downs Region of Queensland, Australia, and employs the propensity score matching technique to make causal inferences. This study also controls selection bias issues – an aspect which has been overlooked in previous studies. This study found that the causal effect of household access to broadband Internet on individuals’ labour force outcomes is not statistically significant. This finding can add value to our knowledge of the causal relationship between broadband access and labour force participation. As the rollout of a high-speed broadband network in rural and regional Australia is currently underway, the finding can be considered a benchmark for subsequent assessment of the effects of such infrastructure development on socio-economic outcomes

The Hindu caste model and the Muslim system of stratification in Bangladesh

The purpose of this thesis is to study social stratification patterns among the Muslims of Bangladesh. The thesis also aims at resolving the controversy over whether or not the Muslims of Bangladesh follow the Hindu caste system. In fact most of the authors who write on Muslim stratification old that it is a form of Hindu caste. But my research indicates that the Muslims of Bangladesh do not follow the Hindu caste system; rather they follow closely the principles of stratification prevalent in early Islamic Arabia. For instance, it is found in the investigation that the fundamental basis of stratification in Bangladesh as well as in early Islamic Arabia is the reckoning of nobility of descent. Moreover, data on the Bangladesh Muslim society show some distinctive features which are different from the features found in Hindu caste. For example, unlike Hindu caste, Muslim stratification is flexible, wealth plays an important role in determining social status, and there is an absence of any purity-pollution distinctions. This thesis also includes twelve case studies from different authors. These cases are reflective of the basis, and the unique features of the stratification existent among the Muslims of Bangladesh. The thesis has two basic conclusions: (1) the Muslims of Bangladesh do not follow Hindu caste model and (2) the application of the concept of caste in studying the Muslim society of Bangladesh is not suitable

Recognition of Bangladeshi Sign Language (BdSL) Words using Deep Convolutional Neural Networks (DCNNs)

In a world where effective communication is fundamental, individuals who are Deaf and Dumb (D&D) often face unique challenges due to their primary mode of communication—sign language. Despite the interpreters' invaluable roles, their lack of availability causes communication difficulties for the D&D individuals. This study explores whether the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) could be a potential solution. The primary objective is to assist D&D individuals with computer applications that could act as mediators to bridge the communication gap between them and the wider hearing population. To ensure their independent communication, we propose an automated system that could detect specific Bangla Sign Language (BdSL) words, addressing a critical gap in the sign language detection and recognition literature. Our approach leverages deep learning and transfer learning principles to convert webcam-captured hand gestures into textual representations in real-time. The model's development and assessment rest upon 992 images created by the authors, categorized into ten distinct classes representing various BdSL words. Our findings show the DenseNet201 and ResNet50-V2 models achieve promising training and testing accuracies of 99% and 93%, respectively. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2023-07-06-019 Full Text: PD