Texting and Christian Practice

This chapter examines the practice of texting in various Christian contexts and why this practice has become so important. It shows that the adoption of mobile technology to promote and disseminate religious thoughts and practices is a form of religious shaping of technology and vice versa (Campbell, 2007). The chapter further gives a general overview of the practice of texting from different geographical contexts where Christian adherents and their leaders embrace text messaging in a wide range of religious and spiritual activities, as well as helping to create new ones. The chapter also gives an up-to-date account of current literature in religion and ICT. Lastly, it suggests further research directions on the possible social and spiritual dangers of texting to Christian living and practices. </jats:p

Relationship Between Bullying, Victimization, Pro-Social Behaviour and Depresssion among Teenagers in Selangor Malaysia

The current study examined the relationship between bullying, victimization and prosocial behaviour with depression among teenagers. The study also determined the moderation effect of pro-social behavior on the relationship between the independent and dependent variables. Ecological systems theory and social cognitive theory were used to highlight the assumptions of the study. The respondents of the study were 242 teenagers from selected secondary schools in Selangor, Malaysia, aged between 13-17 years (mean = 14.67 years; s.d = 1.27). Simple random sampling technique was used to identify the respondents. Peer Relationship Questionnaire (PRQ) by Rigley and Slee (1993) was used to assess bullying, victimization and pro-social behaviour among respondents of the study. The Children Depression Inventory (CDI) (Kovac, 1985) was used to measure depression. Descriptive statistics, t-test, regression and simple factorial ANOVA were used in data analysis. The findings of the study indicated that there was a significant difference (t = 3.306, p ≤ .05) in bullying between male and female teenagers. The study also indicated that depression has a significant and positive correlation with both bullying (r = .296, p ≤.01) and victimization (r = .432, p ≤ .01). Also, the study found significant and positive correlation between bullying and victimization (r = .422, p ≤ .01). Pro-social behaviour was found to have a positive correlation with victimization only (r = .148, p ≤ .05). Victimization was the only unique predictor of depression (Beta = .373, p ≤.0001) in peer relationships. Findings of the study equally revealed that pro-social behaviour does not moderate the relationship between bullying, victimization and depression. The findings of the study lend support to the theory of Bronfenbrener (1979) and Bandura (1963) in that depression can be caused by the socioenvironment, and that bullying, victimization and pro-social behaviour can all be learned from the environment. It also adds to the understanding of peer relationship among teenagers, by emphasizing the need for psychological treatment for identified bullies, victims and depressed teenagers. The study suggested that future research need to expand beyond the self report of internalizing and externalizing depression reported by the teenage respondents. The self report from parents and teachers should also be included as part of the assessment of teenagers

Genetic Diversity of Selected Upland Rice Genotypes (Oryza sativa L.) for Grain Yield and Related Traits

Seventy-seven upland rice genotypes including popular cultivars in Nigeria and introduced varieties selected from across rice-growing regions of the world were evaluated under optimal upland ecology. These genotypes were characterised for 10 traits and the quantitative data subjected to Pearson correlation matrix, Principal Component Analysis and cluster analysis to determine the level of diversity and degree of association existing between grain yield and its related component traits. Yield and most related component traits exhibited higher PCV compared to growth parameters. Yield had the highest PCV (41.72%) while all other parameters had low to moderate GCV. Genetic Advance (GA) ranged from 9.88% for plant height at maturity to 41.08% for yield. High heritability estimates were recorded for 1000 grain weight (88.71%), days to 50% flowering (86.67%) and days to 85% maturity (71.98%). Furthermore, grain yield showed significant positive correlation with days to 50% flowering and number of panicles m-2. Three cluster groups were obtained based on the UPGMA and the first three principal components explained about 64.55% of the total variation among the 10 characters. The PCA results suggests that characters such as grain yield, days to flowering, leaf area and plant height at maturity were the principal discriminatory traits for this rice germplasm indicating that selection in favour of these traits might be effective in this population and environment

Poincaré Inequality and Hajlasz-Sobolev spaces on nested fractals

Given a nondegenerate harmonic structure, we prove a Poincaré-type inequality for functions in the domain of the Dirichlet form on nested fractals. We then study the Hajlasz-Sobolev spaces on nested fractals. In particular, we describe how the "weak"-type gradient on nested fractals relates to the upper gradient defined in the context of general metric spaces

The relationship between peer relations and depression among adolescents in Selangor, Malaysia

The current study examined the predictors of depression in peer relationship (bullying, victimization and pro-social behaviour), using 242 teenage sample aged between 13-17 years (mean age = 14.67 years; std.dev = 1.27). The Children Depression Inventory (CDI) (Kovac, 1985) was used to measure adolescent depression. The Peer Relationship Questionnaire (PRQ) by Rigley and Slee (1993) was used to assess bullying, victimization and pro-social behaviour among respondents of the study. The study indicated that depression has a significant and positive correlation with both bullying (r = .296, p ≤.01) and victimization (r = .432, p ≤ .01) and a negative and non- significant correlation (r = - .101, p > .05) with pro-social behaviour. Significant difference (t = 3.306, p ≤ .05) was only found between male and female teenagers in bullying. The survey further discovered victimization as the unique predictor of depression (Beta = .373, p ≤.0001) among peers. The results of the study provide confirmation of earlier findings on peer relationship. Recommendations of the study centre on the need to expand beyond the self report of internalizing and externalizing depression reported by the teenage respondents of the study

PARALLEL GENDER REPRESENTATION IN ISSUES OF CONFLICT RELATED VIOLENCE: A PRE-REQUISITE FOR PEACE AND DEVELOPMENT IN POST-CONFLICT SOCIETIES

Peace building in the aftermath of war related violence is a prerequisite for the development of post conflict societies. More often than not, women are assumed to be the only victims in cases of gender based violence and rarely is consideration given to the problems of men who inflict pain on women and the possibility that they are as much the victims of the system as are their women counterparts. Unfortunately, Peace negotiations invariably feature a predominance of males and so women are not adequately represented thereby bringing an imbalance to the outcome of the process. The plight of women as the sole oppressed has been long-sung and perhaps it is time to adopt a more inclusive approach to the subject of gender violence; one that gives equal importance to the men also, as victims of violence. This paper therefore brings to light the trauma of men from the conflict zone and highlights their problems as victims of social pressure and how their displacement by women in the post conflict environment may be responsible for their violent actions against women. The work makes use of existing literature as a source of data and aims to bridge the gap on the need for a parallel approach in the resolution of gender based conflict and violence