Out Of Context Research Articles

War and peace in Islam by Dr SLM RIFAI

The main objective of this paper is to explore the concept of war and peace in Islam. How does Qur’an perceive the concept of war? How does Qur’an perceive the concept of peace? How does the Qur’an prescribe fighting? What are the historical and social contexts of prescribing fighting in Islam ? Is fighting a general or an exceptional practice in Islam? Why do people misunderstand the concept of jihad in Islam? This paper examines all these questions briefly. No book has been misinterpreted and misread as the Holy Qur’an has been. Muslims and Non-Muslims have been quoting the Holy Qur’an out of context for many centuries. Sometime, the Qur’anic verses are cherry-picked and interpreted wrongly without their historical and linguistic contexts. Very often, the holy Qur’an is described by many non-Muslims as a book of violence and terror without understanding its ethical and moral principles. How do non-Muslims describe the Holy Qur’an? A lot of misconceptions have been created about the Holy Qur’an in the minds of non-Muslims. A lot of non-Muslims academics, writers, journalists, and religious leaders have created all kinds of misconceptions about the Holy Qur’an without reading it contextually. One must have some contextual, historical, and linguistic knowledge of the Holy Qur’an to understand its inner dimensions and meanings. Some Non-Muslim academics read the Holy Qur’an without any mastery in Arabic linguistic conventions. As a result of this cherry picky reading, they have come into some erroneous conclusions.

The Metabolic Clock Model of B Cell Activation and Differentiation.

Recent advancements in the field of B cell immunometabolism have provided mechanistic insights to B cell activation and fate determination. Here, in this short article, I will explain the main principles of our novel metabolic clock model and how it may reshape our perspective on longstanding immunological questions related to pathologies arising from out of context B cell activation.

Fanaticism of Madzhab in Interpretation: Study of The Book of Aḥkam al-Qur’an By al-Jaṣṣaṣ

Tafsir ʼAḥkam Al-Qurʻan is one of the works of Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Razi al-Jaṣaṣ, that is interesting to research. In addition to his fanatical interpretation of the Hanafi madzhab, this interpretation is also often perceived as incompatible with the verse spoken (out of context). It’s used as a reference to society in the middle ages, where the Qur'an was dominated by its use for political, madzhab, or ideological purposes to defend certain interests. In addition to the important book, it’s unique in terms of its characteristics, therefore it will examine the Tafsir ʼAḥkam Al-Qurʻan in terms biography of al-Jaṣaṣ, the background of interpreting writing, interpretation methods, systematics and discussion of the book, as well as some examples of the interpretation of the book. This article uses descriptional method of analysis library. As for the results of this study al-Jaṣṣaṣ in compiling his book is inconsistent in terms of patterns, methods, or systems. al-Jaṣṣaṣ who is too fanatical in his madzhab has an effect on his interpretation based on reason. Many interpretations are poured out of his own mind and sometimes go astray. He also gave a scathing comment to another madzhab who disagreed with al-Jaṣaṣ.

Anticipated futures? Knowing the heritage of drift matter

ABSTRACTWhat might heritage in and of the Anthropocene look like? This article ponders this question by drawing on archaeological encounters with assemblages of drift matter (seaborne debris) in Norway and Iceland. Here, drift matter manifests evidence of both the relentlessly amassing material heritage of the Anthropocene and deep legacies of local engagement with this fluctuating resource. The tensions evoked along these coastlines therefore invite explorations of some of the challenges met in the current climate, problematizing conceptions of heritage and waste, wanteds and unwanteds, salvation and loss. Surely, drift matter is today largely perceived as not belonging in these natural environs. However, are there other thing lessons to be learned from taking seriously this heritage? Avoiding an interpretation of these things as out of context and a focus merely on what has been lost, this article asks whether it is possible that the sense of ambiguity, flux and drift emitted by this material may not only challenge but also enable alternative possibilities of knowing things – alternatives that may be of significance for a heritage in and of the Anthropocene.

Jardín botánico, heterotopía y ciudad

Esta investigación analiza el fenómeno de los jardines botánicos a la luz de las reflexiones acerca de heterotopía que hace Michel Foucault, y lo contrapone con fenómenos de la ciudad contemporánea. Se expone la dualidad en la que la existencia del jardín botánico como paisaje artificial escondería la verdadera artificialidad y heteropía de la ciudad en su conjunto. Para eso, se reflexiona acerca de los jardines botánicos como imagen reflejada de la realidad y como la recreación yuxtapuesta de realidades descontextualizadas y deslocalizadas. La ciudad contemporánea es vista de forma análoga al jardín botánico, bajo la premisa de hiperrealidad de Baudrillard, donde se conjugan contradicciones y realidades aumentadas, y donde se exponen cuestionamientos acerca de las verdades preestamblecidas y envasadas

Scientific Archives

Scientific Archives

The importance of an ecologically valid method in the evaluation of toddler interaction with coloured liquid laundry detergent capsules.

The colour and appearance of liquid laundry capsules have been implicated in the risk of attracting the attention of toddlers, and therefore contributing to poisoning incidents in the home by encouraging interaction. This research set out to explore if differences in colours and contrasting colour designs used in mono and multi-coloured capsules result in different levels of attractiveness. This was performed using two study settings: a laboratory setting (out of context), and by comparison, a more ecologically valid setting, mimicking the real-world. Capsule attractiveness to toddlers was measured by visual attention (measured through eye tracking) and grasping choice (measured as frequency of grasping in a behavioural task). Results from the research in the out of context setting showed statistically significant differences in visual attention and grasping choice between colours and contrasting designs. In the visual attention study a preference for multi-coloured capsules was shown. In the grasping choice study, in addition to multi-coloured, mono-coloured white or purple capsules were also preferred. In the more ecologically valid setting, there were no statistically significant differences in the visual attention or grasping choice between any of the capsules. These results were consistent with each other and in line with market data reflecting poisoning incident rates, which show no change with colour or contrasting colour design. We suggest that the results from out of context studies might not be a reliable indicator of real world behaviour. Given the importance of toddler home safety, using a methodology that is aligned with market numbers is crucial to develop countermeasures.

Microporn in the digital media age: fantasy out of context

ABSTRACTThis thought piece is interested in the impact of certain digital conditions on pornography. Namely that the context of the content, as inscribed in its original presentation, can sometimes get lost as it is shortened and shared across tube sites. What we find when this happens is that these videos are sometimes then interpreted as real sex by those clicking through. In this article I consider one implication resultant of the removal of context, namely the emergence of viewer speculation around the ‘authenticity’ of the clip as it circulates decontextualized across the web.

La Programación por Competencias en Educación Física: Retos y Problemas para su Implantación en la Escuela

This paper analyses the key competences lesson planning process in physical education, from perceptions of teachers of physical education, tutors and head teachers of primary and secondary school. The aims of this study were: to identify the factors that determine the key competences lesson planning; the contribution of Physical Education to the development of the key competences; the planning process when applied in school settings. We analysed 13 interviews included in five cases study. The results showed that: 1) the features and the needs of the context are essential to understand and interpret the teaching and assessment process of key competences at school; 2) the guidelines of the educational administrators about how to plan key competences at school are perceived as out of context and unhelpful; 3) the most meaningful planning are those that are carried out at school from the teaching staff previous experiences.

Maladie d’Alzheimer et appropriation de la durée d’action

In the course of Alzheimer disease (AD), different authors have reported disturbances of the perception of time. Incapacity to be on top of the time dimension in daily life is a major handicap as witnessed by caregivers of these patients. Very basic stimuli of very short duration and out of context have been used in research on temporality so far. The objective of the research presented here is to determine, whether in the course of AD, the capacity of time representation and time perception for daily activities is affected or not. In AD, we have noticed that the semantic memory for temporal knowledge is significantly altered while the estimation of duration based upon a script is preserved. To approach the representation of perception of time duration for daily activities in AD patients, we applied a combined methodology. A temporal semantic knowledge scale, a time duration estimation test about 12 defined daily activities as well as patient's interviews about temporality in daily life, registered and transcribed verbatim are used. We studied 6 patients with mild to moderately severe AD with comparable sociocultural characteristics and stage of the disease. We analysed the interviews and studied for each activity, verbal outputs relating to themes of temporality such as chronological reference points and time duration estimations as compared to information relating to the activity itself, the location in which the activity took place. The answers are classified according to their pertinence and whether they have been spontaneous or sollicited. We confirm that temporality is significantly altered in the course of mild to moderate AD. Analysis of the patients’ responses to questions exploring above-mentioned aspects of temporality revealed that time duration estimation was more altered than memory of chronological reference points. The approach presented here widens the comprehension of the different alterations as well as the understanding of some underlying processes involved in the perception of time. A reduction of attentional resources allocated to time can explain the observed alterations as proposed by the model of internal clock and attentional gate. We hypothesize that units of time representation have episodic, semantic and procedural components; moreover, our results support the notion that a link exists between retrospective time duration estimation and autonoetic travel as described by Tulving. The results of this research are in favor of the hypothesis that two ways may exist to manage temporality, as proposed by Chambon, one, controlled, conscious and intentional and a second, automated one which would rely on non-intentional and unconscious processes. Analysing the cognitive processes involved in our approach of temporality in AD allows to hypothesize an intersection between episodic, semantic memory and scripts knowledge included in procedural memory. Our results suggest the possibility of an interaction between episodic and semantic memory; this could explain our observation that memory of chronological reference points is relatively less affected in AD. Analysis of the cognitive processes involved in the representation of elapsing time as perceived by Alzheimer patients may potentially explain some of the difficulties these patients face in their daily life. Based upon these findings, a simple scheme of exploration could be introduced in medical practice, reducing the need for more sophisticated and time consuming diagnostic exploration. This deepened understanding may lead to improvements of care with potentially significant impact on daily life of patients and their caregivers.

A dataset of metaphors from the italian literature: exploring psycholinguistic variables and the role of context.

Defining the specific role of the factors that affect metaphor processing is a fundamental step for fully understanding figurative language comprehension, either in discourse and conversation or in reading poems and novels. This study extends the currently available materials on everyday metaphorical expressions by providing the first dataset of metaphors extracted from literary texts and scored for the major psycholinguistic variables, considering also the effect of context. A set of 115 Italian literary metaphors presented in isolation (Experiment 1) and a subset of 65 literary metaphors embedded in their original texts (Experiment 2) were rated on several dimensions (word and phrase frequency, readability, cloze probability, familiarity, concreteness, difficulty and meaningfulness). Overall, literary metaphors scored around medium-low values on all dimensions in both experiments. Collected data were subjected to correlation analysis, which showed the presence of a strong cluster of variables—mainly familiarity, difficulty, and meaningfulness—when literary metaphor were presented in isolation. A weaker cluster was observed when literary metaphors were presented in the original contexts, with familiarity no longer correlating with meaningfulness. Context manipulation influenced familiarity, concreteness and difficulty ratings, which were lower in context than out of context, while meaningfulness increased. Throughout the different dimensions, the literary context seems to promote a global interpretative activity that enhances the open-endedness of the metaphor as a semantic structure constantly open to all possible interpretations intended by the author and driven by the text. This dataset will be useful for the design of future experimental studies both on literary metaphor and on the role of context in figurative meaning, combining ecological validity and aesthetic aspects of language.

The poverty of exceptionalism in international theory

This article is about the politics of ‘the exception’ and the role of ‘exceptionalism’ in contemporary international theory. The concept of ‘the exception’ was coined by Carl Schmitt and has in recent years become an inspiration for international relations theorists and foreign policy analysts, especially when engaging with issues such as great power politics, humanitarian intervention and the war against terrorism. It is concluded that attempts to apply Schmitt’s concept of ‘the exception’ seldom are persuasive and sometimes even contradictory to Schmitt’s theory. When dealt with out of context, ‘the exception’ becomes just an expression about something else. It is shown that there are other ways of handling the kind of political problem observed by Schmitt than what he and his followers are offering.

Sustaining cancer through addictive ectopic gene activation

Systematic genetic and epigenetic alterations occurring in almost all cancer cells result in the ectopic expression of a variety of tissue-specific potent regulatory factors. This review sheds light on a new aspect of cancer based on the integration of the 'out of context' activity of tissue-restricted genes into the biology of cancer cells. A systematic screen for the ectopic activation of tissue-restricted genes in a variety of cancers has revealed that many normally silent genes are expressed in tumours of all origins. This aberrant gene activation not only could be used as a source of biomarkers, but also, in several cases, reveals clear oncogenic mechanisms associated with the corresponding ectopically expressed factors. The characteristic of all cancer cells, which systematically reprogram tissue-specific gene expression and activate silent genes, can be exploited to develop new anticancer strategies aiming at the detection of malignant states, the prediction of their evolution and drug sensitivity and the discovery of new therapeutic approaches.

Importance of probability levels for robustness analysis of geodetic networks

Robustness Analysis is a natural merger of reliability and strain and defined as the ability to resist deformations caused by the maximum undetectable errors. Internal reliability criterion describes maximum undetectable errors in observations, which would not be detected by Baarda’s statistical testing method (data snooping) based on the chosen Type I and II error probabilities. The non-centrality parameter is a function of probability levels and it plays an important role in Robustness Analysis. In this paper, it is aimed to show the impact of non-centrality parameter on the displacements and the relationship between the selected confidence level for confidence regions and threshold values in a geodetic network. For a geodetic network example, a GPS network is chosen and computations of displacements and threshold values (derived from confidence regions) have been carried out for both in-context and out-of context approaches. According to our results, the non-centrality parameter controls the magnitudes of displacements without affecting their relative behaviours. Statistically, lower probability levels are desired. However, if error probabilities are decreased, the non-centrality parameter increases. Since, the non-centrality parameter scales the displacements, a balance between both types of decision error is needed to obtain displacement values that are smaller than threshold values in order to reach a totally robust network at the required level of probability.

Spinal clearance guideline for out-of hospital providers

Introduction Unnecessary spinal cord immobilisation is a common problem in South Africa, even though out-of hospital spinal clearance is becoming standard of care in international emergency medical care (EMC) communities. Large numbers of unnecessary spinal immobilisations, in low risk trauma patients, result in an increased health and economic burden in both the in-hospital and out-of hospital settings. Currently, informal spinal clearance is being practiced in South Africa creating large practice variation, potential patient safety compromise and probable economic burden. An evidence-based out-of hospital spinal clearance algorithm would minimise the unnecessary hospitalisation of low risk spinal patients. Our objectives included: (i) To provide an accurate and reproducible algorithm to identify and correctly refer clinically relevant spinal injury in the out-of hospital setting and (ii) To inform policy makers of best practice for spinal cord clearance through evidence informed decision making and provide implementation and evaluation recommendations. This document provides recommendations for a spinal clearance guideline for South Africa and includes implementation strategies and evaluation criteria. Methods A Population, Intervention, Professionals, Outcomes and Health Context (PIPOH) research question was designed to answer the guideline topic. The literature was systematically searched for spinal clearance guidelines or recommendations. These were screened, appraised and adapted by a specialist emergency care review group using the Appraisal of Guidelines Research and Evaluation (AGREE II) and ADAPTE tools recommended for guideline adaptation and development. The results were filtered by the primary author using pre-defined selection criteria. Results A total of 8 guidelines met the inclusion criteria. Each guideline was independently assessed by two emergency care specialists using the AGREE II tool. A forum discussion was held to adapt the included guidelines to the local out-of hospital needs. Emergency care policy stakeholders and operational and student paramedics were asked to review and comment on the adapted algorithm. Conclusion An out-of hospital spinal clearance guideline was developed with evaluation and implementation strategies for the out-of hospital context. The author would like to acknowledge the South African Cochrane Centre and Dr Tamara Kredo for their support.

Time pressure and driving: Work, emotions and risks

Little is known about how time pressure affects driving behavior. The present questionnaire-based research addresses this gap in the literature. We used roadside assessment, out-of context self-assessment and hetero-assessment approaches. These approaches (1) identify situational factors eliciting time pressure behind the wheel, (2) explore the emotional reactions of time-pressured drivers, and (3) investigate links between time pressure and risky driving. Our results suggest that time constraints, time uncertainty and goal importance are causal factors for time pressure, which is mostly encountered chronically in professional fields requiring driving. Time pressure is associated with negative emotions and stress, though some motorists also appreciate driving under time pressure because doing so potentially heightens feelings of self-efficacy. Time pressure might increase risk taking, but self-reported accidents were not more numerous. This null finding is critically discussed, but it could result from increased driving ability in chronically time pressured drivers and from adequate adjustments of other drivers. Assessments of objective and subjective factors should be integrated in interventions designed to help working people cope with time pressure behind the wheel.

Meditation Awareness Training (MAT) for Psychological Well-Being in a Sub-Clinical Sample of University Students: A Controlled Pilot Study

Mindfulness has been practiced in the Eastern world for over twenty-five centuries but has only recently become popular in the West. Today, interventions such as “Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy” are used within the Western health setting and have proven to be successful techniques for reducing psychological distress. However, a limitation of such interventions is that they tend to apply the practices of mindfulness in an “out of context” manner. To overcome this, a newly formed Meditation Awareness Training (MAT) program focusses on the establishment of solid meditative foundations and integrates various support practices that are traditionally assumed to effectuate a more sustainable quality of well-being. The aim of this pilot study was to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of MAT for improving psychological well-being in a sub-clinical sample of higher education students with issues of stress, anxiety, and low mood. Utilizing a controlled design, participants of the study (n = 14) undertook an 8-week MAT program and comparisons were made with a control group (n = 11) on measures of self-assessed psychological well-being (emotional distress, positive affect, and negative affect) and dispositional mindfulness. Participants who received MAT showed significant improvements in psychological well-being and dispositional mindfulness over controls. MAT may increase emotion regulation ability in higher education students with issues of stress, anxiety, and low mood. Individuals receiving training in mindfulness meditation may benefit by engendering a broader, more ethically informed, and compassionate intention for their mindfulness practice.

Maladie d’Alzheimer et évaluation de la temporalité de la vie quotidienne : l’estimation de durée est-elle mieux préservée en mémoire située ou déclarative ?

In the course of Alzheimer's disease (AD) disturbances of the perception of time has been reported by different authors, who used essentially very basic stimuli of very short duration and out of context. Incapacity to be on top of the time dimension in daily life is a major handicap as witnessed by caregivers of these patients. Analysis of the cognitive processes involved in the representation of elapsing time as perceived by Alzheimer patients may potentially elucidate some of the difficulties these patients face in their daily life. The objective of the research presented here is to determine, whether in the course of AD the capacity to estimate the duration of current daily activities is affected or not. Currently no validated tools are available to neuropsychologists and clinicians to assess temporality in Alzheimer disease (AD) patients under daily life conditions. In order to explore this question, we created a time duration estimation test for twelve current daily activities. A preliminary exploration of this method was carried out by using a control group of 440 healthy subjects of different ages and educational levels and with a group of 22 AD patients with mild and moderate stages of the disease. Simultaneously, a neuropsychological assessment has been carried out to evaluate different cognitive abilities of patients. In the control group, gender has no influence on the duration estimation. Age and cultural level do not influence the estimation of time duration of 2/12 activities. The estimation of time duration of these two activities can be used as a short version of the test. Then we compared the group of AD patients to a control group, which has been matched for age, sex and educational level. No significant difference in this time duration estimation task between the control group and the patients was noticed. We conclude that the cognitive processes relevant for this test seems to persist longer in AD as compared with other processes. The time duration estimation does not correlate with any neuropsychological scale and is in particular not related with the clock drawing test result. Surprisingly, depression did not have any influence on the time duration estimation scale in our AD group. It appears that two dimensions of temporality can be distinguished: the first dimension is one that the subject experiences while actually carrying out an activity and this dimension seems to be influenced by depressive mood. The second dimension would apply if an activity is not actually carried out but, if the subject uses only his representation of the activity; on the latter depression does not appear to have an influence. Our scale does not solicit episodic processes relating to a precise spatio-temporal context, but seem to rely on an acquired global experience of temporality, which is the result of cumulative experience of a person either having actually executed these activities or having merely observed them. We hypothesize that in order to estimate the duration of the daily activities patients would rather use procedural memory processes connected to the scripts of the actions knowledge, which seems to be longer preserved in AD patients. The results of this research are in favor of the hypothesis that two ways may exist to manage temporality, as proposed by Chambon, one, controlled, conscious and intentional and a second, automated one which would rely on non-intentional and unconscious processes. Analysing the cognitive processes involved in our approach of temporality in AD, allows to hypothesize an intersection between semantic memory and scripts knowledge included in procedural memory and to suggest that a rehabilitation proposal can be done: procedural mechanisms could be helpful to support semantic processes.

“The ‘C’ is for Christ”: Arthur Unger, Datebook Magazine and the Beatles

This article argues that it is impossible to understand the genesis, evolution, or cultural significance of the “more popular than Jesus” controversy which engulfed the Beatles in 1966 without paying close attention to Arthur Unger, the man whose decision to reprint an interview with John Lennon in his magazine Datebook sparked the furore. Contrary to the conventional wisdom repeated in countless books and articles dealing with the “Jesus” controversy, Datebook was not a typical teen magazine, but rather a politically progressive publication that gay publisher-editor Unger used to expose various kinds of intolerance and bigotry to American teens. The article explains how Unger had been working with the Beatles both to make money and to advance his liberal social agenda for several years prior to the events of 1966. Far from cynically ripping the Lennon quote—and an equally important one from Paul McCartney on racism—out of context and without permission to make a quick profit, Unger had been encouraged to use the interviews by the Beatles' own management. The article concludes with a consideration of Unger's motives and Datebook's politics more generally.

Versión española del cuestionario de calidad de vida para niños y adolescentes con cardiopatías (PedsQLTM)

Introduction and objectivesTo adapt the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQLTM) (General Module and Cardiac Module, 3.0 version) into Spanish. MethodsForward and back translation methodology. Cognitive interviewing was used to check the pre-test version. Psychometric properties were computed for the PedsQLTM Cardiac Module Scales. Cross-informant variance between children and parents was assessed. ResultsThe Spanish version has some format changes to make it easier to read and to clarify response choices (version for 5-7 years age group). Some semantically complex terms were replaced with synonyms and others illustrated with examples. Some “out of context” problems were identified with respect to some items (version for children 2-4 and 5-7 years). The percentage of missing item responses ranged from 0% to 5.9%. A high ceiling effect was found, especially in the Cardiac Module, which ranged from 19% to 48.6%. Internal consistency was higher than 0.7, except for Physical Appearance Scale and School Functioning in children. Agreement between information given by children and parents was generally very high. A decreasing trend in scores on all scales was observed in relation to the severity of heart disease, but the differences were only statistically significant in some dimensions. ConclusionsThe Spanish version of the PedsQLTM differs somewhat from the original version, particularly on the School Functioning and Physical Appearance Scales, as observed in cognitive interviews. Predictive validity was not demonstrated.Full English text available from:www.revespcardiol.org