From Ruler to Healer: Changes in Religious Experience in the Western Himalayas

Research literature on the Western Himalayas emphasizes the theistic control of local deities. In the framework of this ruling system, described by the concepts of \u27Little Kingdom\u27 and \u27government by deity\u27, local deities functioned as gods and kings. They practice their royalty through a concrete divinity notion, aided by human mediums. In this article we will indicate the beginning of a conceptual change in the perception of a local deity named Mahāsū. Although Mahāsū is still perceived as a ruler, his role has become largely symbolic. We maintain that this illustrates how local theistic conceptions adapt to changes in the political and economic-technologic spheres as well as to the influence of pan-Hindu tradition

Why Can\u27t We Be Friends? Examining the Influence of Social Network Profiles on Initial Interactions

Despite the growing number of people using social network Web sites to establish and maintain relationships, we know little about how the information available on these sites affects communication patterns and perceptions of partners. Therefore, the primary purpose of this study was to extend Uncertainty Reduction Theory (URT) into the Information age by examining the effect that the type of information available on social network sites may have on initial interactions. Thirty strangers were matched with one another to create fifteen dyads. These dyads were assigned to one of two groups: one group received their partners social network profile and the second group was provided an index card containing basic information about their partner. Then, participants completed a pretest, engaged in a get-to-know-you conversation, and completed a posttest. Several weeks later, the Relational Uncertainty in Initial Interactions Questionnaire was administered to assess the lingering effects of uncertainty. These findings contradict five of URT\u27s seven axioms and show the limited applicability of URT to electronic communication while also providing support for Predicted Outcome Value Theory and Uncertainty Management Theory

An analytical performance model for the Spidergon NoC

Networks on chip (NoC) emerged as a promising alternative to bus-based interconnect networks to handle the increasing communication requirements of the large systems on chip. Employing an appropriate topology for a NoC is of high importance mainly because it typically trade-offs between cross-cutting concerns such as performance and cost. The spidergon topology is a novel architecture which is proposed recently for NoC domain. The objective of the spidergon NoC has been addressing the need for a fixed and optimized topology to realize cost effective multi-processor SoC (MPSoC) development [7]. In this paper we analyze the traffic behavior in the spidergon scheme and present an analytical evaluation of the average message latency in the architecture. We prove the validity of the analysis by comparing the model against the results produced by a discreteevent simulator

The Role of Saudi Universities in Spreading the Culture of Green Education in Light of the “Green Saudi Initiative”

In this paper, we analyze the role of Saudi universities in promoting green education culture and identified obstacles and ways to overcome them. A questionnaire was used to gather data from 383 students from various universities. Results showed that green education culture in Saudi universities was rated as average, while obstacles were rated high. Ways to overcome these obstacles were also rated high. Gender, university, and academic level did not significantly affect the results. Recommendations included offering specialized courses on environmental culture, employing student activities focused on environmental issues, and implementing a renewable energy management project in Saudi universities

Education Vision for National Day and Identity Enhancement of Saudi University Students

In this paper, we propose an educational vision for enhancing the national identity of Saudi university students through defining the National Day. A questionnaire with 26 items was used to gather data from 537 students. Results showed that National Day plays a significant role in enhancing the religious, historical, cultural, and intellectual dimensions of the Saudi national identity and facing its challenges. A proposed educational vision was presented, and the study recommended its adoption and implementation by Saudi universities

Networking chemical robots for reaction multitasking

The development of the internet of things has led to an explosion in the number of networked devices capable of control and computing. However, whilst common place in remote sensing, these approaches have not impacted chemistry due to difficulty in developing systems flexible enough for experimental data collection. Herein we present a simple and affordable (<$500) chemistry capable robot built with a standard set of hardware and software protocols that can be networked to coordinate many chemical experiments in real time. We demonstrate how multiple processes can be done with two internet connected robots collaboratively, exploring a set of azo-coupling reactions in a fraction of time needed for a single robot, as well as encoding and decoding information into a network of oscillating reactions. The system can also be used to assess the reproducibility of chemical reactions and discover new reaction outcomes using game playing to explore a chemical space