Influential Leaders Research Articles

Nature of Democracy in the Political Leadership of Muhammad ﷺ: In the Context of Pakistan and Iqbal

The concept of democracy, as we understand it today, did not exist during the time of Muhammad (peace be upon him), the prophet[1] of Muslims, but evolved over time and is rooted in the principles of equality, participation, consultation, social contracts, and justice. Muhammad ﷺ has established these principles, and in this study, it is to be argued that the principles are democratic in nature. His leadership qualities have a significant link with the politics in Pakistan[2] and with the dreamer of this country, Iqbal. It is a descriptive study; the primary objective is to focus on exploring the democratic thoughts of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ through historical incidents from his life. The secondary objective is to explore Allama Iqbal’s thoughts on democracy[3], which are influenced by the political thought of Muhammad (PBUH). It is also argued that Iqbal, the spiritual father of the East, through his poetry, has emphasized the importance of social justice, individual freedom, and education; these are also the basic principles of democracy. The books and literature used for this research depict the political leadership qualities of the Prophet Muhammad and their impact on Pakistan. So, being the most influential leader of Muslims, the “thoughts” of Muhammad ﷺ are explored, which have the potential to bring positive changes to democracy in a country. For promoting democratic values in Pakistan specifically and in Asia in general, this study can play an authentic role. It will provide insights into the potential for democracy to create just and prosperous societies. It can be inspiring for individuals and institutions and would be a new piece of creation incorporating the leadership qualities of Muhammad (PBUH) and Iqbal’s thoughts on democracy and democracy in Pakistan. A triangle needs to be understood.[1] Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, lived in the 7th century in a different historical and cultural context, where the concept of democracy, did not exist as the political and social structures of that time were different, and decision-making processes were not necessarily based on democratic principles.[2] A country in South Asia, gained independence from British colonial rule in 1947 and adopted a constitution in 1956, which provided for a parliamentary form of government.[3] Allama Iqbal was a prominent philosopher and poet who lived in the 20th century and wrote extensively on a wide range of topics, including democracy, who also dreamt of Pakistan.

Representing Gandhi: A Study of Mahatma Gandhi as a Character in Selected Novels from Colonial and Post-Colonial Times

The 1930s saw the rise of Mahatma Gandhi as the frontline leader of India’s struggle against the British imperialists, and it was also a decade when the Indian novel in English came of age, with the publication of Mulk Raj Anand’s Untouchable, R.K. Narayan’s Swami and Friends and Raja Rao’s Kanthapura within a few years of each other. The English novel in India grew as a consequence of the English education introduced by the British, and it was used as a weapon against the imperialists by a bunch of young men who were primarily educated abroad, with an aim to use a universal language that addressed all Indians all over the world. Gandhi, unsurprisingly, became a great source of inspiration for these writers. Gandhi has been a subject of literature and other forms of art to this day, but the portrayal of the ‘Great-soul’ (as Tagore called Gandhi) has gone through a change since the pre-independence days. This essay analyses the change in the portrayal of Gandhi by close-reading four novels, Untouchable (1935) and Kanthapura (1938) from the colonised period, and Waiting for the Mahatma (1955) and Dhorai Charit Manas (1950) from the post-independence era. The essay shows how the portrayal of Gandhi and Gandhism went through a change in the novels from the colonial period to post-colonial times, as the reverence and deification of Gandhi that was so prevalent in the novels of the colonial time gave way to a more humane portrayal of the most influential leader of India’s freedom struggle.

Effect of Facebook news use on political attitudes and participation

Politics may be significantly impacted by how often people access Facebook news. Users' understanding and comprehension of political topics may improve as a result of being exposed to political headlines on Facebook, which may have an impact on how they feel and what they believe. Facebook users may be more inclined to have passionate opinions on political topics and engage in political activism if they often read political news on the social media platform. In this study, we examined the effects of Facebook network size, connections with public political actors, use for news, and political expression on political attitudes, protest, and participation. We did this by considering the Orientation Stimulus Reasoning Orientation Response (OSROR) framework for political engagement impacts into consideration. According to data from Hong Kong's (HK) whole population, a city that has one of the highest rates of Facebook adoption globally, structural equation analyses were carried out. Results indicated considering Facebook's size and connections to influential political leaders had an impact on users' engagement in Facebook news, expression, and effectiveness in both direct and indirect ways. Through political speech, Facebook news largely had indirect consequences. A discriminant function analysis also revealed that the most important factors for separating Facebook users from nonusers were age, education, and exposure to online news. This research has consequences for political campaigns and groups trying to enlist members on social media sites like Facebook.

Influential Radiology Figures and Organizations in Social Media

PurposeWith social media becoming a vibrant hub for the radiology community, highlighting expert leaders and trustful conduits of information in the virtual field is proving crucial. The aim of this study was to identify and describe the most prominent and influential figures and organizational accounts to follow in radiology. MethodsInfluence scores for the topic “radiology” on Twitter (now known as X) were computed using the Right Relevance machine learning service. Top influencers were classified according to gender, geography, physician degree, areas of influence, subspecialization, influence score, title, affiliated institution, dual degree, medical school origin, content type, and research activity. Statistical analysis was performed assessing variable correlations. ResultsIn the top quartile of influential figures, 87% were physicians, 60% men, and 93% located in the United States. Prevalent backgrounds included neuroradiology (21%), abdominal imaging (12%), and artificial intelligence (11%). Of the top 100 figures, 81% were US graduates, 97% held medical degrees, and 28% had dual degrees. Fifty-eight percent provided educational content. A majority held leadership positions (58%) and academic professorship titles (70%). The median h index, publication number, and citation number were 14, 49, and 881, respectively. No significant correlation was noted between influence score and academic rank or research output. ConclusionsVirtual presence is becoming integral to health care professions and academic spheres, unfolding great potential for enhancing the sense of belonging, advocacy, recruitment, and fostering new relationships. Having a core of influential leaders and organizations to follow can serve as a resource for the community members and aspiring students building a positive connected basis for radiology’s thriving future.

A social discovery mechanism for endorsing investors in equity crowdfunding

The development of the Internet has significantly reduced the threshold of entrepreneurship, and the number of new companies is increasing. Following the rise of crowdfunding platforms, many startup companies have begun to use such platforms to raise funds. However, existing crowdfunding platforms lack a network and community to help funders find influential leader investors. In this study, analyzing social network, we propose an endorsing investor discovery mechanism that could be applied to equity crowdfunding for startup support. We analyze the preferences of fundraisers and investors and use the investors' community relationships to help fundraisers attract more investment through their influence. The proposed mechanism can effectively discover relevant and influential investors so as to expedite the fundraising process and reach the goal of fundraising.

Ita Buttrose, Dulcie Boling, and Nene King: The Construction of ‘Idealised Feminine Leadership’ in the Australian Media, 1972–1999

ABSTRACT Ita Buttrose, Dulcie Boling, and Nene King were three of the most influential women leaders in the Australian media from the 1970s through to the turn of the twenty-first century. They were all editors of some of Australia’s most popular women’s magazines, including Cleo, Woman’s Day, New Idea and the Australian Women’s Weekly, and were all appointed to positions on the boards of Australia’s top media companies. This article historicises the careers of Buttrose, Boling, and King, positing that the way that their careers were constructed in the media, by themselves and others, reinforced gendered assumptions regarding women’s leadership capabilities. These constructions evidence a nascent postfeminist conception of women in power in Australia from the 1970s through to the 1990s. The article suggests that the ability (or not) of Buttrose, Boling, and King to conform to idealised ‘feminine’ leadership ideals reinforced (rather than challenged) the highly gendered nature of Australian corporate media leadership and governance.

Food Safety Education for Pregnant and Breastfeeding Mothers, Toddlers, Adolescents, and the Elderly

Quality food products, halal, free from microbial and chemical contamination, and containing harmless ingredients are the criteria for food products that are suitable for consumption. Especially the use of food products for pregnant and lactating mothers, toddlers, and the elderly must be products that should not be careless. This food safety information can be obtained through education provided in community service activities. Community service activities are carried out by religious leaders and influential community leaders, namely PKK cadres in Ketitang Lor Village, Bojong District, PKK cadres in Sabarwangi Village, Kajen District, Aisyiyah Regional Leaders (PDA) Pekalongan Regency, Nasyiatul Aisyiyah Regional Leaders (PDNA) Pekalongan Regency. This activity is expected to provide an overview and knowledge about the safety of food products for pregnant and lactating mothers, toddlers, children, adolescents and the elderly. The implementation method used is to conduct Communication, Information, and Education (KIE) counseling with the lecture method and discussion. Assessment of knowledge improvement by giving pretest and posttest questionnaires. This activity provides an overview for participants to be able to inform pregnant, lactating mothers, foster parents of infants and adolescents, and the elderly to consume safe and healthy food. Participants are interested and cooperative in participating in the activities. The results of the activity showed an increase in knowledge of 3.21%.

Делінквентність російської воєнщини під час російсько-української війни як архетипний прояв російського соціуму

The paper considers the problem of Russian war crimes in Ukraine in the context of the archetypal approach, in particular, the peculiarities of the influence of Russian society on the delinquent character of the Russian occupation forces. During the research, it was established that the manifestations of delinquency in the Russian military are criminal in nature, they are an integral part of the Russian-Ukrainian war, and are directed mainly against the civilian population. The origin of modern Russian ideology and its dangers for modernity are determined. Based on historical examples, a comparison of the consequences of the delinquency of fascist and racist ideologies and the manifestation of the latter during hostilities was made. The psychological portrait of the Russian army is considered in the context of a representative sample of Russian society. An archetypal analysis of the latter’s genesis is carried out, and the archetype of the Horde is identified, which has had a decisive influence on the development of modern Russian society. The author traced the impact of the Horde archetype on the modern Russian state system, state-building processes and society in general. The channels of influence of the Horde archetype on the formation of the Russian army and its relations with the crimes committed by the Russian military on the territory of Ukraine were studied. The phenomenon of the influential leader and its correspondence to the archetype of the Horde are analysed. The paper determined how the Horde archetype affects the perception of other nations and nationalities by Russians, how “Russian collectivism” relates to responsibility, and what is the basis for the Russians’ justification of Russian war crimes in Ukraine. In conclusion, the cardinal changes that have taken place in the perception of the war and the enemy in Ukrainian society are noted, and the leading role of the analysis of basic Russian archetypes for effective resistance to Russian military and semantic aggression is determined. Further directions of archetypal research in the context of the “Russian issue” are outlined.

Towards the development of culturally responsive marriage interventions: traditional and modern perceptions

ABSTRACT Traditional marriage systems reinforce positive marital outcomes, but modernization, neglecting core values of indigenous practices, upsurges divorce. Here described are perceptions of two influential groups, leaders, and practitioners, involved in mediating traditional marital systems in the community of the Royal Bafokeng Nation in South Africa. Qualitative face-to-face interviews with 12 leaders reveal the necessity to restore non-negotiable traditions to preserve marriages. A focus group discussion with ten social services practitioners shows practices as biased and outdated, articulating negotiation and integration of strengths of traditional and modern systems. Findings point to the first steps key to growing theory and approaching the development of culturally appropriate interventions for Black African couples, for instance, identifying evidence-based interventions, conducting baseline research, and expanding or adapting interventions to meet current needs.

Backward Design: An Approach to the Professional Development of School Leaders

Influential leaders are one of the essential elements to achieving the goals of school transformation. Optimizing the ability of school leaders requires opportunities to practice what they have learned from the training module of the School Transformation Program 2025 (TS25). Since the results of the school’s achievements can convince the community to support and cooperate with the school, the researcher adopted an approach known as the backward design as a model for the professional development of school leaders. First, however, the researcher needs to examine the feasibility and appropriateness of this approach. Therefore, the researcher conducted a School Leaders Perception Study (SLPS) through a questionnaire to survey 225 leaders’ perceptions of 82 Kota Kinabalu district schools about implementing the TS25 program in Malaysia. This survey was administered through a google form to gauge school leaders’ acceptance level of TS25 program implementation. It also aims to identify the need for self-development among school leaders, which they usually implement through best practice sharing. In addition, the researcher also studied the willingness of school leaders to implement TS25 partnerships targeted at the community through the questionnaire. After determining the reliability of the SLPS questionnaire, the results of descriptive analysis showed that Kota Kinabalu district school leaders strongly agreed with school transformation implemented according to the school context. Most of them also agree that partnership implementation is a valuable learning opportunity in professional development. The findings also indicate that targeted TS25 partnerships with the community should begin from the results of existing school achievements. Therefore, the researcher suggests a backward design approach as an innovative approach for school leaders’ professional development.

Chained to History: Slavery and U.S. Foreign Relations to 1865 by Steven J. Brady

Reviewed by: Chained to History: Slavery and U.S. Foreign Relations to 1865 by Steven J. Brady Ann L. Tucker Chained to History: Slavery and U.S. Foreign Relations to 1865. By Steven J. Brady. (Ithaca, N.Y., and London: Cornell University Press, 2022. Pp. viii, 232. $39.95, ISBN 978-1-5017-6105-8.) Slavery constituted one of the most critical issues in U.S. domestic politics from the founding through emancipation. In Chained to History: Slavery and U.S. Foreign Relations to 1865, Steven J. Brady follows in the footsteps of historians such as Matthew Karp by positioning slavery as a critical issue shaping U.S. foreign policy as well. Using the records and words of leading American statesmen, Brady argues that slavery influenced American foreign policy goals, actions, successes, and failures from the American Revolution through the Civil War, continually complicating and challenging efforts to advance U.S. interests at home and abroad. Chained to Slavery traces the influence of slavery on American foreign policy through a series of critical events in U.S. history. Brady reveals the key role slavery played in these well-known incidents and highlights the influence of foreign policy considerations on well-known American actions related to slavery. Slavery complicated efforts to resolve ongoing conflict with Britain during the early republic and shaped American reactions to the Haitian Revolution. International disagreements over slavery limited efforts to police the Atlantic slave trade and helped thwart American attempts to promote Black colonization in Africa. Slavery drove American expansionism, despite the risks of harming U.S. relations with European powers, and hindered the [End Page 360] Abraham Lincoln administration’s diplomatic efforts during the Civil War. Throughout these events, slavery and international relations were inextricably intertwined, shaping American actions and historical outcomes. As Brady reveals, a major reason why slavery was so woven into every element of U.S. diplomacy was that leaders frequently equated the promotion and protection of slavery with national interests and even national security. Yet despite this prioritization of slavery, American statesmen continually struggled to define domestic and international legal precedents and obligations regarding the institution, and therefore the obligations of domestic and international parties toward each other. This dynamic shaped decades-long debates with Britain over compensation for the owners of self-emancipated enslaved people and over the British enforcement of the prohibition of the Atlantic slave trade. Further complicating matters, the connection between slavery and foreign policy was not always straightforward, and other concerns often intervened. For example, a desire to promote commerce led the United States to continue trade with Haiti, a nation founded in part by a slave revolt, and the ideas of American unilateralism continually clashed with the defense of slavery’s tendency to draw its proponents into the larger international world. In this analysis, Brady shows how influential American leaders, and their foreign counterparts, were repeatedly snared, thwarted, and redirected by the issue of slavery as they debated and negotiated America’s place in the world. One theme that emerges throughout the book was the particular challenge that the United States’ generally proslavery foreign policy posed to its relationship with abolitionist Great Britain. This tension began with long-lasting conflict over compensation for the owners of enslaved persons who had self-emancipated across British lines during the American Revolution, and it continued with American refusals to acquiesce to British visions for an alliance against the Atlantic slave trade. Throughout the nineteenth century the United States and Great Britain repeatedly found themselves at odds over the issue of slavery. This dynamic was intensified even by seemingly unrelated events, such as the U.S. annexation of Texas (which Britain opposed because it advanced slavery), as well as ongoing fears about British abolitionist influence in Spanish Cuba, and the expansion of British power generally. Brady’s emphasis on the role slavery played in shaping the United States’ relationship with Britain is one of the strengths of the work. The relationship between slavery and foreign relations that Brady depicts was multidirectional, with varied results for American leaders and their goals. Nonetheless, with clear use of evidence and strong organization, Brady compellingly demonstrates that slavery and international relations were inextricably...

Remembering Ruth Milligan Ballweg, MPA, PA-C Emeritus.

Remembering Ruth Milligan Ballweg, MPA, PA-C Emeritus.

Empagliflozin and dulaglutide: community awareness project promotes improved access to newly funded medications for Pacific patients with type 2 diabetes.

The aims of our awareness campaign were to increase the number of inquiries by patients to doctors for two new diabetes drugs funded by Pharmac on 1 February 2021 and 1 September 2021 respectively, to increase the number of applications for special authority, and to trial a "grass roots" community dissemination of information that appeals to explicit individual benefit from the new medicines. The campaign used an approach tailored primarily to the Pasifika community. The campaign ran from April 2021 to July 2021 and targeted Counties Manukau communities using a talanoa approach by primarily by sharing key messages informally through social networks face-to-face by word-of-mouth. The key messages about the new medicines were shared orally with local organisations, family, friends, influential community leaders and colleagues such as justices of peace, kapa haka leaders, committee representatives from local schools, sports, cultural and hobby clubs. A printed pamphlet translated in Māori, Samoan, Tongan and English with the key messages was also distributed widely. The campaign notified 102 primary care practices, used Pacific equity teams to disseminate the information, promoted the message on Māori and Pasifika radio stations, and engaged a public relations company who contacted the South Auckland Community Trust, councillors, community boards and local churches. This approach was intended to spread the message through the community to reach people with type 2 diabetes and/or their families to prompt them to contact their doctor and see if they are eligible. To gauge how effective the campaign was, we gathered data from Pharmac that quantified new prescriptions for the new medicines by location and ethnicity. An estimated 45,000 people were exposed to our campaign materials or were told about the new medicines by people they knew. These estimations were conservatively based on the known membership, listenership, and reach of the various delivery arms by which this campaign was delivered. These data show Pacific patients, the focus of about 64% of our project work, were 40% more likely to apply and receive a prescription for empagliflozin in Counties Manukau than anywhere else in the country. Direct-to-consumer marketing is an effective way of increasing health awareness and uptake of newly funded diabetes medicine amongst Pacific patients with type 2 diabetes.

Health Systems Need to Transform Data Collection to Advance Health Equity.

Health Systems Need to Transform Data Collection to Advance Health Equity.

Effect of Enabling and Reinforcing Factors on Mother's Actions in Prevention of COVID-19 in Pematangsiantar City in 2023

The purpose of this research is to analyze effect of enabling and reinforcing factors on mother's actions in prevention of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Pematangsiantar City in 2023. This type of research is quantitative research with an analytic observational approach. Population in this study are housewives in East Siantar District, Siantar Marimbun District, and North Siantar District. Total population of housewives in the 3 districts is 22,349 people. Sampling technique used in this study is gradual cluster sampling. Sample that will be used in this study is 267 housewives who are considered to represent all housewives in 3 sub-districts in Pematangsiantar City. Data analysis in this study used bivariate analysis using chi-square test. The results of the study show that enabling factors which consist of information source has a significant effect on mother's actions in prevention of COVID-19 in Pematangsiantar City in 2023. Reinforcing factors which consist of family and influential community leaders support have a significant effect on mother's actions in prevention of COVID-19 in Pematangsiantar City in 2023.

Manipulation detection of key populations under information measurement

In today's turbulent international situation, regional conflicts often occur, and the game between major countries has been continuing, which is not only reflected in the military strength, but also the war by means of information technology, especially the turmoil caused by the spread fake news. It is common to forge the statements of influential leaders or entrepreneurs called key populations forgery and spread them on the Internet, which causes bad influence. The number of key populations forgery belongs to a small group in the huge deep forgery number, and the conventional deep forgery detection methods have a great gap in the detection efficiency and performance of small group samples. Therefore, we use the forged information of a large number group to judge the forged information of a small number group, and propose a deep forgery detection method of information construction and comparison under information measurement. Firstly, we propose a sample coverage analysis method for the sample library boundary to explore the difference in the feature space between the small number of key population samples and the large number samples, so as to determine the sample boundary of small number groups from the information level. Secondly, we construct information of key groups and expand the sample scale to meet the data needs of improving the detection accuracy. Finally, we compare the forged features of the large number group with the feature of the expanded small number group, and measure the information coincidence of the two types features by the complexity of feature clusters. When the coincidence degree is high, it is considered that the small number group samples have gone through the forgery process and carried forged information. We have analyzed and tested the current mainstream deep forgery databases and collected a small number of population sample, and compare with some popular methods. The experimental results show that our proposed method achieves the state-of-the-art (SOTA).

Careers: Eugene H. Spafford: He's been fighting cybersecurity threats for decades

During Eugene H. Spafford's more than three decades as professor of computer sciences at Purdue University, in West Lafayette, Ind., he has made groundbreaking contributions to computer and network security. A member of the Cyber Security Hall of Fame, he is considered one of the most influential leaders in information security.

Sufi Feminism

Abstract Men founded and have ruled over Sufi orders since their inception, and thus the position of Khalifa or shaykh has been traditionally held by men. However, this study argues that in some Islamic mystical traditions women have assumed a senior leadership role with all the power that such a prominent position entails. More research is needed to understand the challenges Sufi women have faced in legitimizing their power, their experiences in a patriarchal society, and the various methods they have used to establish and protect their religious authority. By adopting a qualitative approach, this study seeks to explain the shift in Sufi women’s leadership role in society, specifically within the African context, focusing on two women who were influential spiritual leaders, Nana Asmaʾu and Sharifa ʿAlawiyya al-Mīrghanī. The study concludes that African Sufi feminist traditions overcame the challenges posed by their complex societal contexts.

Leadership and contagion by COVID-19 among residence hall students: A social network analysis approach

University students have changed their behaviour due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this paper, we describe the characteristics of PCR+ and PCR- nodes, analyse the structure, and relate the structure of student leaders to pandemic contagion as determined by PCR+ in 93 residential university students. Leadership comes from the male students of social science degrees who have PCR +, with an eigenvector centrality structure, β-centrality, and who are part of the bow-tie structure. There was a significant difference in β-centrality between leaders and non-leaders and in β-centrality between PCR+ and non-leaders. Leading nodes were part of the bow-tie structure. MR-QAP results show how residence and scientific branch were the most important factors in network formation. Therefore, university leaders should consider influential leaders, as they are vectors for disseminating both positive and negative outcomes.

Artificial Intelligence: First Do the Long Overdue Doable.

Release of ChatGPT-4, an internet-based computer program that simulates conversation with human users using Artificial Intelligence (AI) on March 14, 2023 set off a flurry of debates regarding the role and impact of AI on human life. Influential leaders and thinkers from diverse fields have chimed in to offer their views, admonitions, and or recommendations. There seems to be a great diversity in viewpoints and visions regarding how AI would affect human destiny-right from confident optimism to stark doomsaying and all in between. However, not much attention is being paid to the insidious long-term effects on human societies, many of them being unintended consequences, that AI has the potential to create over a short period of time. Perhaps the greatest threat of AI is the potential for loss of meaning in life and human-technology-created enfeeblement in a large section of humanity. All the other threats including that of the current AI are mere epiphenomena of this basic threat. In view of the fact that the genie of AI is out of the bottle and that it cannot be put back in, the first order of business for technologists, policy makers, and the governments is to allocate resources and attention to address the problem of meaning in life and mitigation of the sentiment of overwhelming and universal helplessness. Lastly, not to be optimistic about AI while being cautious and pragmatic is not an option.