Moderating role of compassion in the link between fear of Coronavirus disease and mental health among undergraduate students

"Background The societal challenges presented by fear related to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic may present unique challenges for an individual's mental health. However, the moderating role of compassion in the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and mental health has not been well-studied. The present study aimed to explore the association between fear of COVID-19 and mental health, as well as test the buffering role of compassion in this relationship. Methods The participants in this study were 325 Iranian undergraduate students (228 females), aged 18–25 years, who completed questionnaires posted on social networks via a web-based platform. Results The results showed that fear of COVID-19 was positively related with physical symptoms, social function, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms. The results also showed that compassion was negatively associated with physical symptoms, social function, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms. The interaction-moderation analysis revealed that compassion moderated the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and subscale of mental health. Conclusion Results highlight the important role of compassion in diminishing the effect of fear of COVID-19 on the mental health (physical symptoms, social function, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms) of undergraduate students.

Moderating role of compassion in the link between fear of Coronavirus disease and mental health among undergraduate students

"Background The societal challenges presented by fear related to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic may present unique challenges for an individual's mental health. However, the moderating role of compassion in the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and mental health has not been well-studied. The present study aimed to explore the association between fear of COVID-19 and mental health, as well as test the buffering role of compassion in this relationship. Methods The participants in this study were 325 Iranian undergraduate students (228 females), aged 18–25 years, who completed questionnaires posted on social networks via a web-based platform. Results The results showed that fear of COVID-19 was positively related with physical symptoms, social function, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms. The results also showed that compassion was negatively associated with physical symptoms, social function, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms. The interaction-moderation analysis revealed that compassion moderated the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and subscale of mental health. Conclusion Results highlight the important role of compassion in diminishing the effect of fear of COVID-19 on the mental health (physical symptoms, social function, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms) of undergraduate students.

Spiritual intelligence, spiritual health and occupational stress in Islamic organisations

By reaching perfection and closeness to God and reaching the source of the light of existence, man can benefit from his endless mercy. Almighty God is absolute perfection, and nearness to absolute perfection is the main goal of creation. Considering that those who are not God do not have anything of their own, and whatever perfection God’s servants have is originally from God and belongs to him, the closer people get to God, the more they will benefit from God’s mercy. Therefore, in the work environment, this perfection appears in the form of spiritual intelligence and spiritual health based on Islamic teachings and affects organisational variables such as occupational stress. Today, the role of spiritual intelligence is considered an important issue in improving spiritual health, reducing occupational stress and effective social functioning, especially in an Islamic environment, which leads to a better understanding of employees about their job. Therefore, the present study aims to evaluate the effect of spiritual intelligence of Muslim managers on the spiritual health and occupational stress of employees in Islamic organisations in Iraq. The statistical population includes 3422 Muslim managers and employees of 50 service organisations (including finance, education and tourism) in Iraq in 2022. The results of the hypothesis test in Linear Structural Relations (LISREL) shows, spiritual intelligence has a significant effect on spiritual health (P = 0.885; T = 11.058). On the other hand, spiritual intelligence has a negative and significant effect on occupational stress (P = -0.763; T = -7.854). Finally, spiritual health also has a negative and significant effect on occupational stress (P = -0.912; T = -10.134). Contribution: The findings of the research indicate that spiritual intelligence leads to the improvement of spiritual health and as a result reduces occupational stress, especially in an Islamic environment. Therefore, it should be taken into consideration by the managers of the organisations in order to achieve the maximum benefit in light of Islamic teachings

Moderating role of compassion in the link between fear of Coronavirus disease and mental health among undergraduate students

"Background: The societal challenges presented by fear related to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic may present unique challenges for an individual's mental health. However, the moderating role of compassion in the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and mental health has not been well-studied. The present study aimed to explore the association between fear of COVID-19 and mental health, as well as test the buffering role of compassion in this relationship. Methods: The participants in this study were 325 Iranian undergraduate students (228 females), aged 18–25 years, who completed questionnaires posted on social networks via a web-based platform. Results: The results showed that fear of COVID-19 was positively related with physical symptoms, social function, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms. The results also showed that compassion was negatively associated with physical symptoms, social function, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms. The interaction-moderation analysis revealed that compassion moderated the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and subscale of mental health. Conclusion: Results highlight the important role of compassion in diminishing the effect of fear of COVID-19 on the mental health (physical symptoms, social function, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms) of undergraduate students.

Numerical investigation of nanofluid mixed convection in a T-shaped cavity by considering a thermal barrier

In this study, the numerical investigation of Al2O3-Water nanofluid mixed convection in a T-shaped lid-driven cavity in the presence of a thermal barrier with positioning at different positions is investigated by the two-phase mixture model. Variable parameters in this study are the cavity aspect ratio (AR), the volume fraction of nanoparticles (), Richardson numbers (Ri), and different thermal barrier placements in the cavity. The results indicated that the increase in the Richardson number leads to an increase in the local and average Nusselt number () and heat transfer. Increasing the also increases the heat transfer while increasing the aspect ratio decreases the heat transfer. Regarding the geometrical position of the thermal barrier, the results show that the geometrical position of the thermal barrier near the lid has the highest heat transfer and the Nusselt number. Numerical investigation of nanofluid mixed convection in a T-shaped cavity by considering a thermal barrier is the originality of this work

The compassionate love for humanity scale (CLS-H-SF):psychometric properties of the Persian version

Compassionate love is beneficial in a variety of domains, including in education, health, and law, as well as in people’s personal lives. The topic of compassionate love has therefore attracted growing interest from researchers interested in its psychological and social dimensions. Given the importance of compassion to the education and health sectors, and the expansion of these sectors in Iran, this paper aims to provide Persian (Farsi) speaking practitioners and researchers with an effective instrument for measuring compassion. As such, the authors have translated the compassionate love for humanity scale-short form (CLS-H-SF) into the Persian language, and assessed the psychometric properties of this instrument among a sample of the Iranian population. A sample of 827 adults (49.9% women and 51.1% men) completed the Persian version of the CLS-H-SF through an online survey. Concurrent validity was assessed using the Persian versions of the positive and negative affect scale, self-esteem scale, and satisfaction with life scale. The CLS-H-SF positively correlated with positive affect, self-esteem and life satisfaction, and negatively correlated with negative affect. These findings indicate acceptable concurrent validity for the CLS-H-SF. Cronbach’s alpha for the scale was 0.88, indicating good internal consistency between items. A confirmatory factor analysis supported a one-factor model same as the English version of the CLS-H-SF. The findings of this study showed the Persian version of CLS-H-SF had acceptable validity and reliability in assessing compassionate love for humanity in Iranian adults

Examining the Effects of Cue Cards on EFL Learners’ Speaking Fluency, Accuracy, and Speaking Anxiety

As using cue cards is not common in Iranian EFL classes, this research aimed at examining the impacts of applying cue cards on developing the speaking accuracy and fluency of Iranian EFL students. Additionally, this study looked at how employing cue cards helped Iranian EFL learners reduce their speaking anxiety. Sixty of the 97 Iranian EFL students who took the Oxford Quick Placement Test were selected as the target sample for the current research. The selected participants were then indiscriminately designated into two groups: control and experimental of equal size. Afterward, the pretests of speaking fluency and accuracy and speaking anxiety were administered to both groups. After pretesting, the experimental group was instructed by using cue cards, and the control group was instructed by a traditional speaking method. After the instruction finished, both groups took the posttests of the mentioned variables. The data analysis revealed that on their speaking accuracy, fluency, and anxiety posttests, the experimental group outperformed the control group. According to results, applying cue cards led to positive effects on speaking fluency, accuracy, and anxiety. Ultimately, based on the findings, some implications and conclusions were proposed

A hierarchical p-hub center problem for perishable products using CPLEX method and origin-destination approach

The problem studied in this paper is the p hub center and the network structure is hierarchical and in three levels; where level one is for demand nodes, level two is for hub nodes, and level three is for central hubs. Central hubs have a complete network and hubs in the network have the capacity constraint. Given that the issue under consideration is for the purpose of transporting perishable goods, Such problems are often used in transportation systems in which customer response time is of great importance and sensitivity; Therefore, the objectives of the proposed model are to find the best location for hubs in the network as well as the best allocation of nodes to hubs so that network transportation costs are reduced and the maximum travel time between each pair of origin destination nodes is minimized. To evaluate the model, a numerical example with CAB dataset is introduced and to review and analyze the results, GAMS software with CPLEX solver is used. The results show that the discount coefficient of central hubs compared to the discount coefficient of second level hubs has the greatest impact on the cost of transportation and travel time

The Effects of Processing Instruction and Output-Based Activities on Grammar Learning: The Mediating Role of Working Memory

Processing instruction (PI) is an input-based approach to grammar education based on input processing theory, and output is another element needed for second-language acquisition to be successful. This study sought to examine the impact of PI and output-based activities with the mediating role of working memory (WM) capacity on learning English future tense. To this end, 99 subjects with preintermediate command of English based on an Oxford Placement Test were recruited for the study, and they were divided into three groups: PI, output, and control, with 33 learners in each group. Using a reading-span test, it was revealed that 14 subjects in the PI group, 15 participants in the output group, and 13 learners in the comparison group had low WM, while the rest individuals had high WM capacity. Then, a two-way between-group analysis of variance and a Bonferroni adjustment post hoc test were performed. The results of the analyses showed that both PI and output groups outperformed the control group. Additionally, there was no difference in grammar gain between PI and output groups. Besides, learners with high WM outperformed low WM individuals. The pedagogical implication of this research is that PI and output-based activities can assist teachers in implementing effective strategies to raise L2 learners’ knowledge and consciousness

Fuzzy Multi-Objective Optimization to Evaluate the Performance of Suppliers Taking Into Account the Visibility and Supply Chain Risk

Adequate and desirable connections between suppliers and customers necessitate an appropriate flow of information. Therefore, a promising and proper data collaboration in the supply chain is of tremendous significance. Thus, the study’s main objective is to provide multiple objective programming models under uncertain conditions to assess the performance of suppliers. To meet that aim, a case study for the reliability assessment of the presented model is carried out. That section is associated with supply chain visibility (SCV). Likewise, the likelihood of unpredicted and undesirable incidents involving supply chain risk (SCR) is taken into consideration. The intimate relation between visibility and risk of the supply chain is deemed efficient for the performance of the supply chain. Incoherence in maximization and minimization of SCR and SCV and other factors, including costs, capacity, or demand, necessitates multiple objective programming models to assess suppliers’ performance to accomplish the before-mentioned aims. The study’s results indicate the high reliability of the proposed model. Besides, the numeral results reveal that decision-makers in selecting suppliers mainly decrease SCR and then attempt to enhance SCV. In conclusion, the provided model in the study can be a desirable model for analyzing and estimating supplier performance with SCR and SCV simultaneously