Authoritative Sources Research Articles

Construction of Expert Image in Genre of Editorial: Discursive Practices

This research focuses on discursive practices employed to construct the expert image within the genre of editorial articles. The expert image aligns with the goals of this textual form. Initially, editorials served as a tool for expressing the publication’s voice and ensuring the status of an independent social institution. While this function has somewhat diminished today, editorials still play a significant role in shaping societal views and values, especially during pivotal political events. Therefore, it is crucial for authors of editorial articles to maintain authority and expert status. Research findings demonstrate that discursive practices such as referencing authoritative sources, highlighting the author’s achievements in discussing the issue at hand, presenting quantitative data, formulating predictions, and recommendations are utilized to shape the expert image in editorial articles. These practices are perceived by readers as elements of expert knowledge, yet they actually belong to distinct realms: expertise and counter-expertise. The author of the article differentiates between expertise, anti-expertise, and counterexpertise.

Everyday Lived Islam among Hazara Migrants in Scotland: Intersectionality, Agency, and Individualisation

The mainstream literature on the religiosity of Muslims in Europe often homogenises this diverse minority. This article diverges by focusing on a less visible ethno-religious minority within the Muslim population, specifically examining how Hazara Shia Muslim migrants from Afghanistan, resettled in the UK, live and organise Islam in everyday contexts. Addressing this gap, the research highlights the intersectionality of religion, ethnicity, and migration in reconfiguring religious practice. Grounded in the intersectional and lived religion approaches, this study contends that the religiosity of this Muslim minority undergoes a dynamic shift entwined with agency and adaptation in the new secular and plural context, becoming more individualised, privatised, and elective. Employing an ethnographic design, data are collected through semi-structured and key informant interviews, as well as participant observation, over 18 months of fieldwork across various council areas in Scotland. The findings illustrate reconfiguration, adaptation, and innovation in everyday Islam among this intersectional Muslim minority, identifying three main themes: the adaptation and reconfiguration of religious practices and rituals, the renegotiation of authoritative sources, and the navigation of intersectional identities and belonging since resettlement in the UK.

Precision in medical isotope production: Nuclear model calculations using artificial neural networks

In this groundbreaking study, artificial neural networks (ANNs) are employed to predict the production cross-sections of crucial radioisotopes, namely 18O, 209Bi, 232Th, and 68Zn, via the (p,n) reaction. We employed a comparative approach to validate the ANN model's predictions by comparing them to outputs generated by established nuclear reaction codes (TALYS 1.9, EMPIRE-3.2 (Malta)) and data from the authoritative source, the Experimental Nuclear Reaction Data (EXFOR).Motivated by the increasing demand for radioisotopes in precise medical diagnostics and successful therapies, this study focuses on investigating methods and new techniques for determining production cross-sections with high accuracy, which are crucial for the consistent supply of vital radioisotopes. In line with this objective, the ANN model demonstrated exceptional performance, achieving remarkably high correlation coefficients, exceeding 0.999 for training and all data, and reaching 0.98665 for testing. Supportive of this, the high correlation coefficients indicate that the ANN estimations effectively match experimental data. Significantly, our findings illustrate the potential of ANNs as a promising alternative for estimating the production cross-sections of 18O, 209Bi, 232Th, and 68Zn, with the possibility of extending this application to other medically relevant radioisotopes.

Reporting tumor genomic test results to SEER registries via linkages.

Precision medicine has become a mainstay of cancer care in recent years. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program has been an authoritative source of cancer statistics and data since 1973. However, tumor genomic information has not been adequately captured in the cancer surveillance data, which impedes population-based research on molecular subtypes. To address this, the SEER Program has developed and implemented a centralized process to link SEER registries' tumor cases with genomic test results that are provided by molecular laboratories to the registries. Data linkages were carried out following operating procedures for centralized linkages established by the SEER Program. The linkages used Match*Pro, a probabilistic linkage software, and were facilitated by the registries' trusted third party (an honest broker). The SEER registries provide to NCI limited datasets that undergo preliminary evaluation prior to their release to the research community. Recently conducted genomic linkages included OncotypeDX Breast Recurrence Score, OncotypeDX Breast Ductal Carcinoma in Situ, OncotypeDX Genomic Prostate Score, Decipher Prostate Genomic Classifier, DecisionDX Uveal Melanoma, DecisionDX Preferentially Expressed Antigen in Melanoma, DecisionDX Melanoma, and germline tests results in Georgia and California SEER registries. The linkages of cancer cases from SEER registries with genomic test results obtained from molecular laboratories offer an effective approach for data collection in cancer surveillance. By providing de-identified data to the research community, the NCI's SEER Program enables scientists to investigate numerous research inquiries.

The SEER Program's longstanding commitment to making cancer resources available.

The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program, an authoritative source of cancer statistics in the United States, has been funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) since 1973. The goals of SEER include measuring the cancer burden in the United States, making the results available, and supporting cancer research. These goals render products that serve as resources for different audiences, such as cancer registrars, researchers, and the public. Cancer registrars have access to a dedicated tab on the SEER website for questions, assistance with cancer coding, and training and technical resources such as SEER*Rx and SEER Data Management System (SEER*DMS). For researchers, SEER provides access to databases and software such as SEER*Stat and other linked databases such as SEER-Medicare that may offer answers to emerging issues in the field of cancer outcomes, cancer burden, health disparities, healthcare access, diagnosis, and prevention. The public can access cancer materials such as the SEER Cancer Stat Facts sheets, SEER*Explorer, and Did You Know? video series to learn more about cancer. SEER continues to update its resources with and ahead of legislation such as the Plain Writing Act and 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act (IDEA) to improve both clarity and user experience. Moving forward, SEER continues to promote awareness of SEER resources, remains accessible and understandable across all audiences, and standardizes how new resources are shared with these groups. The longstanding commitment to making cancer resources available is fundamental to the value of SEER, as evidenced by testimonials from members of various audience types.

Cybersecurity preparedness of small-to-medium businesses: A Western Australia study with broader implications

This study was prompted by the scarcity of focused quantitative research on the cybersecurity of SMBs. Our research aimed to understand the factors influencing SMBs' approach to cybersecurity, their level of threat awareness and the importance placed on cybersecurity. It also explored the extent to which NIST CSF practices are implemented by SMBs while also detecting and ranking the prevalent challenges faced by SMBs. Additionally, resources that SMBs turn to for help and guidance were also evaluated. While the survey-based study was on Western Australian SMBs, the results are of more general and wider interest. Our study found the lack of funds to be the biggest hindrance to cybersecurity, along with a lack of knowledge on where to start implementing good security practices. SMBs also lacked familiarity with relevant regulations and frameworks. The study highlights areas for improvement, such as access control mechanisms, individual user accounts, formalised policies and procedures, and dedicated budgets. SMBs heavily rely on Google search for cybersecurity information, emphasising the need for optimised search results from authoritative sources. IT service providers and informal networks also emerge as important sources of cybersecurity guidance, while local universities could assist SMBs but remain underutilised in this regard. Interestingly, factors such as organisational size, industry sector, and revenue level did not significantly impact SMBs' perception of vulnerability to cyber threats. However, further investigation is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of different IT service models for SMBs' cybersecurity needs. Overall, the research provides valuable insights into the specific gaps and challenges faced by SMBs in the cybersecurity domain, as well as their preferred methods of seeking and consuming cybersecurity assistance. The findings can guide the development of targeted strategies and policies to enhance the cybersecurity posture of SMBs.

Representation of Social Determinants of Health terminology in medical subject headings: impact of added terms.

To enhance and evaluate the quality of PubMed search results for Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) through the addition of new SDoH terms to Medical Subject Headings (MeSH). High priority SDoH terms and definitions were collated from authoritative sources, curated based on publication frequencies, and refined by subject matter experts. Descriptive analyses were used to investigate how PubMed search details and best match results were affected by the addition of SDoH concepts to MeSH. Three information retrieval metrics (Precision, Recall, and F measure) were used to quantitatively assess the accuracy of PubMed search results. Pre- and post-update documents were clustered into topic areas using a Natural Language Processing pipeline, and SDoH relevancy assessed. Addition of 35 SDoH terms to MeSH resulted in more accurate algorithmic translations of search terms and more reliable best match results. The Precision, Recall, and F measures of post-update results were significantly higher than those of pre-update results. The percentage of retrieved publications belonging to SDoH clusters was significantly greater in the post- than pre-update searches. This evaluation confirms that inclusion of new SDoH terms in MeSH can lead to qualitative and quantitative enhancements in PubMed search retrievals. It demonstrates the methodology for and impact of suggesting new terms for MeSH indexing. It provides a foundation for future efforts across behavioral and social science research (BSSR) domains. Improving the representation of BSSR terminology in MeSH can improve PubMed search results, thereby enhancing the ability of investigators and clinicians to build and utilize a cumulative BSSR knowledge base.

Culture War Complexity: How Contaminated Words and Heterodox Positions Challenge Traditional Dichotomies

AbstractThis essay addresses some of the key terminological conflicts of the ongoing culture war between “wokes” and “anti-wokes” in many Western societies. In a public debate culture where words and labels are rapidly contaminated when appropriated by the “other side,” it is increasingly difficult to make sense of the key positions and battle lines to decode who is battling whom. The “culture war matrix” serves as a heuristic tool to contain some of the central culture war positions in an otherwise fragmented space of mediated discourse. Two intersecting tensions are suggested between woke and anti-woke and between cancel culture and free speech. While this two-dimensional understanding by no means exhausts the complex positionings in the culture war landscape, it represents an alternative to the one-dimensional dichotomy-thinking, which reduces the struggle to a matter of left versus right. In conclusion, a third way of understanding contemporary culture wars is suggested by focusing on heterodox impulses and alternative sources of intellectual authority.

Revisiting cultural approaches to Chinese tourists

Scholarship on Chinese tourists has stressed the influence of collectivism, Confucianism, and other traditional values. While significant, these approaches assume a singular, holistic view of culture that is at odds with recent approaches in the sociology of culture that stress the domain-specific, situational, and flexible nature of cultural scripts. Using fresh empirical evidence of Chinese tourists to non-mainstream destinations, this article demonstrates that tourism frequently disembeds tourists from traditional sources of cultural authority. I suggest viewing culture in tourism as a contextual set of repertoires used to (1) draw symbolic boundaries, (2) perform situational, diverse scripts, and (3) self-reflect on personal and collective identities. These results counter the idea that Chinese tourists have internalised one master set of cultural responses.

KRITIK SANAD DAN MATAN

This paper discusses the method of criticism of Sanad and Matan. In the Hadith studies, both aspects are equally important. Sanad is a series of narrators who convey the hadith, while matan is the content of the hadith itself. To find out the quality of a hadith we must find out the quality of its transmitters and content. Therefore, this paper is important because it discusses the method of criticism of Sanad and Matan. includes the critical methodology of sanad and matan seen in the periods of the Prophet, Companions, Tabi'in, and Tabi' tabi'in. In this study the author uses a historical approach, and in analyzing the data the author uses the descriptive-analysis method. Regarding the critical study of hadith, it has actually been carried out since the time of the Prophet and his companions. However, the criticism of sanad and matan in the initial phase has not been formulated as systematically and methodologically as in the final phase (alMuta`akhirîn). This is because there is still the figure of the prophet as an authoritative source to ask (clarify) the news that friends hear. After the death of the Prophet Muhammad SAW, there have not been many problems in the hadith, apart from that there are still friends who always maintain their honesty and do not want to lie in the name of the Prophet SAW. Criticism of hadith during the time of the Companions focused on testing the truth of whether the Prophet actually conveyed the hadith or not. The source of this paper comes from books/books, and journals that are relevant to the theme of the writing.

The Role of Wikipedia as a Student Reference: A Critical Examination

This article examines the role of Wikipedia in the academic research process, highlighting its emergence as a pivotal resource for students seeking initial insights across various disciplines. It delves into the advantages of Wikipedia, such as its accessibility, the diversity of perspectives it encompasses due to its collaborative nature, and its capability to offer real-time updates on a wide array of subjects. However, the article also addresses the challenges associated with its reliability, including concerns over the accuracy of its open-editing model and the potential for bias and vandalism. By exploring educators’ views on leveraging Wikipedia for academic purposes and providing guidelines for its effective use, this review aims to present a balanced perspective on navigating its benefits and limitations. It encourages a critical approach to information evaluation, underscoring the importance of corroborating Wikipedia-derived knowledge with authoritative sources. Through case studies and a discussion on the impact of Wikipedia on research methodologies, the article ultimately seeks to equip readers with a comprehensive understanding of its role in enhancing academic endeavors, advocating for a discerning utilization that acknowledges both its utility and inherent challenges.

The Educational Ontology of Traditional Pesantren: Exploring the Essential of Education in Pesantren Al-Maqbul

<p><em><span lang="EN-US">This research aims to explore why the Pesantren Al-Maqbul continues to maintain a traditional education system from the ontological perspective of educational philosophy. This qualitative research focuses on the mechanisms of community interaction in Pesantren Al-Maqbul. To get the data, the collection techniques employed were through observation, interviews, and documentation. This study resulted in findings that (1) The reason Pesantren Al-Maqbul still insists on maintaining the traditional education system cannot be separated from the educational philosophy ontology; (2) The influence of the ontology foundation of the educational philosophy of the Pesantren Al-Maqbul on its educational goals can be identified from the tendency of monism, which places Allah's revelation in the form of the Qur'an and Hadith as the only authoritative source of knowledge; (3) According to the view of Pesantren Al-Maqbul, knowledge about God, humans, and the universe is obtained from an in-depth reading of the Qur'an and Hadith.</span></em></p>

Competitive Textile Exports: A Comparative Study of Pakistan and China in the United States of America Market

The clothing and textile industry is crucial to Pakistan's economy, significantly contributing to GDP and employment. Pakistan, with its strong expertise in cotton manufacturing, faces intense competition from China in the lucrative United States market. This study aims to evaluate Pakistan's textile and clothing exports to the United States and analyze its competitive advantages against China. Utilizing two analytical techniques, the Trade Competitiveness Index and Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA), this research assesses Pakistan's positioning in the US market relative to China. Secondary data from authoritative sources such as WITS and UN Comtrade, along with scholarly articles, serve as the basis for the analysis. The study focuses on three key textile divisions (SITC 26, SITC 65, and SITC 84) and examines their impact on US imports. Key findings indicate that while Pakistan has demonstrated growth in textile exports, particularly in textile fabrics (SITC 26) and clothing (SITC 84), it still lags behind China in overall export volume and market share. The RCA analysis reveals that Pakistan possesses a comparative advantage in specific textile categories, though China's market dominance remains unchallenged. The research identifies several challenges for Pakistan, including inefficient resource use, energy supply issues, high production costs, and outdated equipment. However, opportunities for improvement lie in enhancing quality standards, compliance with international trade requirements, and strategic policy enhancements. The study provides actionable recommendations to strengthen Pakistan’s competitiveness, such as modernizing production equipment, optimizing resource use, and exploring new markets. The findings of this study are crucial for policymakers, industry stakeholders, and businesses aiming to strengthen Pakistan's textile exports and navigate the highly competitive global textile landscape.

Популярні маніпуляції із соціологічними даними: критичний аналіз

This article delves into the prevalent forms of manipulation employed in quantitative sociological data. The authors highlight how the burgeoning volume of Big Data and the advancement of data processing technologies in the contemporary world have opened up new avenues for information manipulation. This manipulation often involves the active use of propaganda, disinformation, phishing, and other techniques, which exert a significant impact on society. It leads to the distortion of information through the dissemination of false and misleading data, eroding trust in authoritative sources and media outlets. Moreover, it directly impinges upon social stability, misrepresents the true picture of events, and triggers conflicts, social tensions, and mass unrest. The article expounds on the notion that manipulated data obtained from sociological research can be instrumental in crafting a fabricated reality, influencing people's thoughts and behaviors, and consequently, warping public opinion. The study of manipulative technologies has gained particular urgency in the context of Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine, which has ignited an accompanying information war. The article also devotes considerable attention to a detailed analysis of sociological theories that comprehensively illuminate the issue of the implementation of data manipulation technologies, including «doublethink», «manufacturing consent», the «spiral of silence», «reality packaging», and the «nudge».

Enhancing access to missionary archives: the role of digital libraries and online repositories

Purpose The purpose of the paper is to explore how digital libraries and online repositories enhance access to missionary archives. It investigates how the digitalization of missionary archives fosters the access, searchability, interactivity, dissemination and preservation of the historical and cultural knowledge of missionary documents and legacies. The selected topic stems from a genuine and deeply ingrained desire and interest to explore the digital archiving landscape, majorly in the context of missionary archives. Design/methodology/approach The study relied heavily on the literature review of the most current scholarly articles. Additionally, the study relied on case studies on missionary institutions and churches that rely on technology to digitize missionary archives and online repositories to make them accessible. Generally, reliance on scholarly articles relevant to the topic was an avenue for examining the existing studies and projects affiliated with digitizing and using missionary archives. Findings Missionary archives and records provide a distinct perspective regarding the realities faced by missionaries and indigenous populations. Digital libraries and online repositories are invaluable and instrumental in improving access to missionary archives. They help users overcome physical barriers while supporting the preservation of fragile materials. Additionally, the digitization efforts of various institutions foster the broader dissemination of missionary records. Digital platforms and online repositories foster collaborative research globally in remote settings. Online repositories are instrumental in enhancing access to missionary archives. They achieve this by providing centralized access points to digitalized collections of historical documents, photographs, manuscripts and artifact. Major challenges include substantial costs affiliated with digitization, environmental factors heightening degradation of the original materials and intellectual property dictations and copyright. Originality/value By using scholarly and authoritative sources of information and evidence, the study contributes to the existing literature by providing insights into the instrumentalism of digital libraries and online repositories to enhance access to missionary archives. There should be comprehensive digitization, adherence to preservation standards, commitment to stakeholder engagement and collaborative decision-making.

Examining Witness Interest: The Obstacles of Testimony in Islamic Jurisprudence and Positive Law

This study compares Islamic jurisprudence and positive law to explore the obstacles of testimony, focusing on the complexity and controversy surrounding witnesses' interests. Employing a legal comparative method, the research examines self-interest in testimony, emphasizing authoritative sources like fiqh books and Jordanian law, shedding light on the concept of self-interest as its primary focus. It highlights the differences between Islamic jurisprudence and contemporary legal frameworks, providing a nuanced understanding of witness actions in legal processes. This research's findings reveal that testimony's self-interest predominantly relates to lineage, siblinghood, marital relationships, hostility, and partisanship. The results show both Islamic jurisprudence and positive law recognize the prohibition of testimony due to self-interests is not absolute; there are many interpretations and exceptions to this restriction, with differences stemming from the reliance on religious texts in Islamic jurisprudence and legal reasoning in positive law. This gap arises from the ability of contemporary law to examine the interests of witnesses from various perspectives and through the use of different evidentiary tools. This research contributes practically that the application of law that is different from what has been formulated by fiqh scholars in Islamic jurisprudence does not necessarily indicate that the legal decision is at odds with Islamic law.

Evaluating SIEM RADAR: A New Metric for Enhancing Regulatory and Compliance Efficiency

This research paper explores the modern cybersecurity landscape, particularly focusing on the risks associated with SIEM products and SOC services. It underscores the critical issue of insufficient logging practices that compromise an organization's threat detection and response capabilities, thereby increasing the risk of security breaches. The importance of real-time log retention to address evolving digital threats is highlighted, with recommended retention periods from authoritative sources such as the White House, OWASP, MITRE, and SANS. The paper also addresses scalability challenges due to the exponential growth of log data, the necessity for effective correlation within SIEM systems for timely threat detection, and the importance of compliance with various standards and regulations to enhance security. This comprehensive analysis provides valuable insights for cybersecurity professionals, organizations, and policymakers.

Reviewing the Adequacy of Zambia’s Legal Framework for Local Authorities Revenue Mobilization

An increase in sources of local authority’s revenue in both developed and developing countries has compelled governments to develop policies and laws aimed at guiding local authorities in revenue mobilization. The Zambian government, to be specific, has over the years developed quite many laws for this venture. In addition to the constitutional provision, other pieces of legislation guiding local authorities’ revenue mobilization in Zambia include; the Public Finance Management Act, No. 1 of 2018, Local Government Act, No. 2 of 2019, the Property Transfer Tax (Amendment) Act, 2019, Market and Bus Station Act. No.7 of 2007, the Valuation Surveyors Act, the Rating Act No. 21 of 2018, and the Personal Levy Act of 1996. This paper explores the adequacy of Zambia’s Legal Framework for Local Authorities Revenue Mobilization. The respondents were purposively sampled from the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Local Government, the Decentralization Secretariat, and the Local Authorities. Moreover, the various sources of local authorities’ revenue and pieces of legislation are discussed. Zambia has an adequate legal framework guiding local authority revenue mobilization. It is for this reason that local authorities are encouraged to adhere to the legal framework at all costs if they are to effectively generate revenue and play an effective role in enhancing development.

For, against, and beyond: healthcare professionals’ positions on Medical Assistance in Dying in Spain

BackgroundIn 2021, Spain became the first Southern European country to grant and provide the right to euthanasia and medically assisted suicide. According to the law, the State has the obligation to ensure its access through the health services, which means that healthcare professionals’ participation is crucial. Nevertheless, its implementation has been uneven. Our research focuses on understanding possible ethical conflicts that shape different positions towards the practice of Medical Assistance in Dying, on identifying which core ideas may be underlying them, and on suggesting possible reasons for this disparity. The knowledge acquired contributes to understanding its complexity, shedding light into ambivalent profiles and creating strategies to increase their participation.MethodsWe conducted an exploratory qualitative research study by means of semi-structured interviews (1 h) with 25 physicians and nurses from primary care (12), hospital care (7), and palliative care (6), 17 women and 8 men, recruited from Madrid, Catalonia, and Andalusia between March and May 2023. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and coded in Atlas.ti software by means of thematic and interpretative methods to develop a conceptual model.ResultsWe identified four approaches to MAiD: Full Support (FS), Conditioned Support (CS), Conditioned Rejection (CR), and Full Rejection (FR). Full Support and Full Rejection fitted the traditional for and against positions on MAiD. Nevertheless, there was a gray area in between represented by conditioned profiles, whose participation cannot be predicted beforehand. The profiles were differentiated considering their different interpretations of four core ideas: end-of-life care, religion, professional duty/deontology, and patient autonomy. These ideas can intersect, which means that participants' positions are multicausal and complex. Divergences between profiles can be explained by different sources of moral authority used in their moral reasoning and their individualistic or relational approach to autonomy.ConclusionsThere is ultimately no agreement but rather a coexistence of plural moral perspectives regarding MAiD among healthcare professionals. Comprehending which cases are especially difficult to evaluate or which aspects of the law are not easy to interpret will help in developing new strategies, clarifying the legal framework, or guiding moral reasoning and education with the aim of reducing unpredictable non-participations in MAID.

Enacting Decentralized Authority: The Practices and Limits of Moving Beyond Hierarchy

Decentralization as an organizing principle has drawn growing interest from scholars and practitioners because of its perceived suitability for contemporary market conditions and alignment with employees’ evolving work expectations. However, efforts to decentralize authority face significant obstacles and often end in failure. I propose that existing research on decentralization has struggled to generate insight into how such barriers can be overcome because it has treated decentralization as a static outcome imposed by organizational designers. In contrast, this article treats decentralization as a dynamic and situated achievement that must be continually enacted, and it leverages ethnographic data from a decentralization effort in order to build theory on the organizational practices that support enactments of decentralized authority. I find that successful enactments of decentralized authority were supported by practices that established clear boundaries of authority and focused collective attention on these boundaries, as well as by practices that depersonalized collective attributions of the source of authority. At the same time, the practices were difficult to sustain because they were cognitively, emotionally, and temporally demanding. Through this study, I show that decentralization is not merely a one-time structural change but an ongoing collective process that requires navigating and neutralizing the structural and psychological forces pulling organizations back toward hierarchy.