Search Results (447)

Text data is indispensable for modern machine learning and natural language processing but often contains sensitive information that must be protected before sharing or release. Differential privacy (DP) provides rigorous guarantees for privacy preservation, yet applying DP to text rewriting poses unique challenges. Existing approaches frequently assume white-box access to large language models (LLMs), relying on internal signals such as logits or gradients. These assumptions limit practicality, since real-world users typically interact with LLMs only through black-box APIs. We introduce PrivRewrite, a framework for differentially private text rewriting that operates entirely under black-box access. PrivRewrite constructs a diverse pool of candidate rewrites through randomized prompting and pruning and then employs the exponential mechanism to select a single release with end-to-end $ϵ$-DP. A key contribution is our refined sensitivity analysis of the utility function, which yields tighter bounds than naive estimates and thereby strengthens the accuracy guarantees of the exponential mechanism. The framework requires no fine-tuning, internal model access, or local inference, making it lightweight and deployable in practical API-based settings. Experimental results on benchmark datasets demonstrate that PrivRewrite achieves strong privacy–utility trade-offs, producing fluent and semantically faithful outputs while upholding formal privacy guarantees. These results highlight the feasibility of black-box DP text rewriting and show how refined sensitivity analysis can further improve utility under strict privacy constraints. Full article

This article examines an epigraphic strategy deployed by the Ming court (1368–1644) in the aftermath of the 1556 Jiajing earthquake. Focusing on two stelae from Shanxi, one dedicated to the Jiao-Long Spirit and the other to Empress Nüwa, it proposes “epigraphic layering” to describe the purposeful division of roles between a stele’s faces. Each stele’s front carries an authoritative imperial proclamation admonishing the deity, while the back envoys prayer that appeases the deity and consoles the populace. By splitting imperial command and contrition between the two faces, the Ming court could assert cosmic order while simultaneously expressing penitence during the crisis. This dual-voice inscription technique was a creative adaptation of established ritual epigraphy to extraordinary circumstances. The study sheds new light on late imperial Chinese ritual practice, epigraphic communication, and state–temple relations, demonstrating how this dual-voice strategy helped navigate tensions between imperial authority and local faith. Full article

Health inequities affect minoritized and racialized populations worldwide. These populations tend to rely on their spiritual beliefs, practices, and faith communities for coping and support. At the same time, the mental health systems and their practitioners draw on secular models of illness and emotional distress to understand and treat mental disorders. The strategies recommended to reduce disparities in mental health should recognize the fundamental worldview differences, a decolonizing frame of reference that includes spirituality, and a task-sharing approach grounded in cultural humility. Following a review of the evidence, a model is proposed to leverage the value of spirituality in mental health care. Full article

Adult Clergy Sexual Abuse (ACSA) is a profound betrayal of trust and power that produces complex psychological, spiritual, and relational injuries for survivors. While much of the literature has focused on the abuse itself and its consequences, less attention has been given to recovery and resilience. This qualitative study draws on in-depth interviews with 27 female survivors of ACSA to explore how they heal and recover. Using artificial intelligence to support thematic analysis, nine key recovery processes were identified: 1. therapy, 2. supportive relationships and community, 3. faith and spirituality, 4. survivor organizations, 5. education and understanding, 6. justice and accountability, 7. sharing their stories, 8. time and patience, and 9. practical support and advocacy. Across experiences, the most potent factor undergirding recovery was being believed and validated, which addressed survivors’ core wounds of self-blame and isolation. Findings highlight survivors’ capacity for healing and underscore the critical role of supportive, informed communities. Full article

The longevity of popular religions in China is primarily attributed to their strong adaptability. This study uses online ethnography to examine the Pageant on Immortals event in Changle, which became a popular topic on the Chinese Internet in February 2024, to explore the identity transformation of popular religious inheritors and innovations in religious rituals. This study contributes to the research on the diversity of Chinese religious cultures by addressing the question of what emotions young people in an atheistic society hold toward deities like “Prince Zhao,” and how are these emotions generated? Here the Pageant on Immortals event, the “Deities,” who traditionally held a subsidiary position to the main god, due to changes in statue-making styles and gaps in mythological narratives, resonates with the “daily superstition” practices of contemporary Chinese youth. This shift has led participants to treat the deities as idols, and the organizers have transitioned from traditional roles of religious merchants or ritual specialists to seeing themselves as the “dolls’ masters.” However, these changes and innovations present challenges for the transmission of faith. Full article

This study addresses a significant gap in the academic literature by directly examining the relationship between spirituality and sustainable behaviors. While existing research has explored these topics individually, a review of databases like Web of Science and Scopus revealed a unique absence of studies that directly connect them. The primary purpose of this research is to bridge this gap and identify the influence that spirituality has on sustainable behavior, thus potentially reshaping our understanding of these two interconnected concepts. To achieve this, the study used the ASPIRES scale, a validated instrument for measuring spirituality and religious beliefs across various countries and faiths. For the sustainability component, we adapted and statistically validated an entrepreneurial intention instrument to create the ‘Instrument of Intention in Sustainability’ (IIS), designed to assess leaders’ motivations for implementing corporate sustainability initiatives. The study’s findings involved comparing two confirmatory factor analysis models and two structural models to analyze the relationship between spirituality and sustainability. The results show that both instruments have acceptable psychometric properties; however, the direct relationship between spirituality and sustainability was found to be weak. Despite this weak direct link, our research provides valuable practical implications. The findings can help managers identify other factors that more effectively motivate sustainability-related behaviors. This insight can be instrumental in enhancing human resource strategies within organizations focused on sustainability. Ultimately, this research provides a new framework for sustainability-focused organizations within the specific cultural contexts of Colombia and Latin America. Implementing this framework could prove beneficial for a range of companies, from local and regional to multinational, that operate in areas with similar cultural characteristics. Full article

Religious “nones” is currently used in academia as a category referring to individuals who do not have a specific religious belief or do not belong to a specific religious organization. The increase in the number of religious nones is a distinct religious, cultural, and social trend not only in the West but also around the world, and South Korea is no exception. The following questions arise: What are the trends of religious nones in South Korea? What are their characteristics? What are the historical, cultural and social factors for the large number of the irreligious in the country? This paper shows that South Korea boasts one of the highest percentages of the population with no religious affiliation in the world. The paper also finds that religious nones in the country tend to be “spiritual but not religious”, i.e., they have the characteristic of pursuing spirituality by practicing their faith in their own way outside of the institutional system. As for the factors for the high rate of religious nones, the paper argues that the phenomenon of irreligion in South Korea has a long history, e.g., suppression of shamanism and Buddhism during the Joseon dynasty (1392–1910), and that the popularity of shamanism and Confucianism, which are often seen more as spiritual practice and a philosophical system, respectively, has also been a contributing attribute. The rapid economic development, improved living standard, high education attainment level, and the rise of leisure culture are other factors for the rise in religious nones in Korea. The paper closes by reflecting on the implications of increasing religious nones for the concept of secularization. Full article

Accounting manipulation undermines the integrity of financial reporting and can distort key performance indicators, yet its quantitative effects on accounting quality (AQ) and value-related metrics remain underexplored. This study analyses U.S. publicly traded firms involved in accounting manipulation between 2017 and 2019, comparing them with matched non-manipulative industry peers to assess differences in AQ. It also examines potential links between manipulation-related AQ distortions and changes in Economic Value Added (EVA), stock prices, trading volumes, and dividend payouts. The sample includes 57 manipulation-affected firms and 57 matched controls, identified through SEC enforcement filings and the Violation Tracker database. Financial and stock data were sourced from EDGAR, ORBIS, and Morningstar. AQ was measured using discretionary accruals estimated via the Kasznik model. Correlation analysis tested associations between AQ and the selected performance indicators. Results show that firms involved in accounting manipulations had significantly lower AQ than their peers. However, no consistent correlations were found between AQ and EVA, dividends, stock prices, or volumes during the manipulation period. These findings suggest that the performance effects of manipulations are case-specific and shaped by additional factors, underscoring the importance of strong regulatory oversight and high-quality accounting practices. Ethically, our evidence underscores that misreporting corrodes investor trust and the public-interest mandate of financial reporting; accordingly, we stress the duties of boards, executives, auditors, and regulators to uphold faithful representation and timely disclosure, and to remediate misreporting when detected. Full article

This paper explores African spirituality by examining its core values, traditions, and healing methodologies. Employing a qualitative research design and ethnographic method, data were collected through individual interviews with twelve parents (Sample 1) and a focus group discussion with fifteen community members and traditional leaders (Sample 2) in a deeply rural African community in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Participants were recruited with the assistance of community elders for their in-depth knowledge of this faith tradition. Thematic analysis generated three overarching themes: understanding African spirituality; spiritual beliefs and practices within African spirituality; and healing methodologies. The findings reveal a complex system of interconnected beliefs and practices that shape African communal life, highlighting the role of spiritual rituals in sustaining the well-being of families and communities. Full article

Youth violence in Zimbabwe’s high-density suburbs has evolved into a severe public-health emergency, entrenching trauma, fuelling substance abuse, and amplifying structural inequities. Christian churches remain the most pervasive civic institutions in these settings, commanding high moral authority, psychosocial reach, and convening power. However, the mechanisms by which churches mitigate violence, and the constraints they face, continue to be under-researched. Grounded in socio-economic model lens and faith-based social capital theory, this study interrogates the intersections between youth violence and church responses in Zimbabwe’s urban centres. The study adopts a qualitative approach using semi-structured interviews with church leaders. Twenty (20) church leaders from mainline, Pentecostal, and Apostolic traditions were recruited through purposive and snowball sampling to capture denominational diversity and varying levels of programme engagement. Interviews probed leaders’ perceptions of youth-violence drivers, theological framings of non-violence, practical interventions (e.g., trauma-healing liturgies, anti-drug ministries, peer-mentorship schemes), and institutional constraints such as resource scarcity and political pressures. Data was analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. The findings indicate three interconnected mechanisms through which churches mitigate the cycle of violence. Nevertheless, gendered participation gaps, theological ambivalence toward activism, and limited alignment with municipal safety strategies continue to pose challenges to these efforts. By positioning churches within Zimbabwe’s broader violence-prevention ecology, the study offers an empirically grounded blueprint for integrating faith actors into city-level public-health strategies and contributes towards evidence-based, structural solutions to urban youth violence. Full article

Christian Liberation Theology highlights a spirituality that is deeply tied to the fight for socio-political freedom. This perspective argues that spirituality, when practiced as a way of life, is essential for meaningful liberation. It represents a fresh take on Christian faith and discipleship, one that arises from the lived realities of the poor and oppressed. This approach has significantly influenced both Catholic and evangelical communities, blending spiritual and political elements into a unique theological framework. The research underscores that within this context, Liberation Theology redefines faith and spirituality as active, lived experiences that contribute to tangible social change. Spiritual people are not detached or indifferent to the struggles of others. They express their love for God by caring deeply for His creation. Just as God aligns with and supports the oppressed, spiritual individuals take a stand against injustice and those who perpetuate it. In this way, spirituality and the struggle for socio-political justice are inseparably connected to the message of Liberation Theology. The present article intends to refute the erroneous claim that Christian liberation theology is unrelated to spirituality and faith. The article highlights the intrinsic connection between spirituality and faith within this theological framework and subsequently analyzes the spiritual outcomes it produces. Full article

In many countries across the Western world, religion is in decline, with public secular environments increasingly outweighing family-based religious socialization. Canada and West Germany exemplify this trend, where younger generations often perceive religion as something to be justified within predominantly nonreligious peer groups. Muslims, as a religious minority, display greater resilience to secularization, yet their religiosity is also subject to transformation. Drawing on narrative family interviews spanning two to three generations, this study examines the conditions shaping religious continuity and discontinuity within Muslim families in Canada and West Germany. Focusing on second- and third-generation Muslims, we find that practicing religion with children is the most significant factor in successful transmission, especially when rituals are woven into daily life. Yet family practice alone is insufficient: embedding children in faith-based community networks and fostering open dialogue about religion prove crucial for sustaining confidence, belonging, and adaptability. Religious transmission also intersects with ethnic and cultural identity, though ethnic ties alone do not guarantee continuity. Ultimately, we observe that transmission involves transformation: parents are changing the way they approach religion, placing a greater emphasis on their children making their own choices. Muslim families, like other faith communities, shift toward more individualized and reflective forms of religiosity, negotiating their identities within secular and often critical societal contexts. Full article

This study presents a dual-layer GraphRAG framework for petroleum engineering question answering, in which instance-level facts and domain-level concepts are explicitly separated and integrated into retrieval-augmented generation. To evaluate the framework, a benchmark of 40 expert-constructed Q&A pairs was developed, covering factual, definitional, and explanatory queries derived from a real offshore oilfield dataset. Results show that the dual-layer graph consistently outperforms a single-layer baseline. Answer accuracy improves from 0.65 to 0.70, faithfulness from 0.54 to 0.61, and context relevance from 0.69 to 0.72, confirming that the system retrieves factual parameters more reliably and provides conceptually grounded explanations. Gains in evidence recall and coverage are more modest, highlighting areas for further optimization. A case study illustrates the framework’s ability to expand petroleum terminology (e.g., “sandstone → clastic rock”), producing responses that are not only quantitatively more reliable but also qualitatively more informative. The dual-layer design effectively addresses the semantic consistency gap in petroleum QA, offering practical value for reservoir evaluation, lithology interpretation, and technical decision support. These findings demonstrate the potential of GraphRAG to enhance knowledge management and intelligent services in petroleum engineering. Full article

In the context of an increasingly hostile national political environment and federal cuts to refugee resettlement programs in the United States, advocates often highlight the economic contributions of immigrants and refugees to garner local support, especially in regions with histories of economic and population decline. While these narratives continue to be a centerpiece of pro-immigrant and -refugee advocacy, in practice advocates and refugees themselves use a diverse set of frames to promote belonging. In this paper, we examine pro-refugee advocacy frames in a small, nontraditional destination in the Midwest. We draw on survey and focus group research with young adult refugees and nonprofit advocates and content analysis of online stories about refugees. We found that pro-refugee values frames (humanitarian and faith-based) and contributions frames (economic, cultural and civic) coexisted across the local landscape and were used by not only nonprofit advocates and local officials, but also by refugees themselves. While advocacy groups emphasized the dominant frame highlighting refugees’ economic contributions, they were also strategic in using overlapping frames to highlight a less public frame, refugees’ contributions to civic engagement through community service and volunteering. Advocates tended to reproduce the economic contributions frame to appeal to key stakeholders, which consequently obscures refugees’ diverse contributions, but we argue that refugee self-advocates’ use of the civic engagement frame pushes back against economic and other frames that limit their contributions and helps them to create spaces of belonging. Full article

The philosophy of both Immanuel Kant and Karl Jaspers culminates in the motif of faith (the pure practical rational faith and the philosophical faith), but this similarity has received relatively little attention. The paper examines it with specific focus on three questions: First, can it be said that Kant advocates a narrower, morally bound conception of rational faith, while Jaspers holds a broader, existential conception? If so, what is the root of this “narrower”–“wider” distinction? Second, can we take Jaspers as “Kantian existentialist” with regard to his motif of philosophical faith? Third, what do these concepts imply in relation to Christianity? To what extent can philosophical standpoint co-exist with Christian belief? As for the first question, the interpretation shows that rather than narrower–wider, it is more appropriate to use the stricter (Kant)–looser (Jaspers) distinction in the concept of rational faith, that, (second), has in both cases different grounding. Third, contrary to seeming opposition, where Kantian faith tends to overlap with Christian belief while for Jaspers a philosopher cannot be a believer in traditional sense, both get to a “sibling proximity” on the one hand and tension to traditional religion on the other. Full article