Search Results (1,100)

Objectives: The objectives of this review are to explore the effects of various nutrition and exercise lifestyle interventions on pregnancy outcomes in individuals with, or at risk of, gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), as well as to examine whether interventions that are culturally and/or religiously sensitive influence clinical and behavioural outcomes. Methods: This study was conducted as a narrative review. PRISMA was used solely as a reporting guide to enhance transparency in the search and study selection process. PubMed/MEDLINE, CINAHL, and Scopus were searched for studies published up to November 2025. Intervention-based studies evaluating nutrition, physical activity, or combined lifestyle interventions targeting either GDM incidence, insulin use, or glycemic outcomes were included. Forty-three studies met eligibility criteria. Study designs consisted primarily of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with one case–control and one quasi-experimental design trial. Results: Combined lifestyle interventions generally showed the most consistent improvements in glycemic control; however, findings were not uniform across all studies, and reporting on insulin outcomes was limited. The Mediterranean, low-glycemic index (LGI) and DASH diets, along with supervised, prenatal exercise programs with low–moderate intensity, delivered at least three times per week, were effective in managing GDM. Regarding culturally or religiously sensitive interventions, only one study was identified. Conclusions: Lifestyle interventions may improve glycemic outcomes in GDM; however, further high-quality research is needed, particularly studies incorporating culturally and religiously sensitive approaches and improved reporting of insulin-related outcomes. Full article

The not-yet-forgotten pandemic restrictions related to COVID-19, which affected the religious sector in an unprecedented manner, significantly contributed to the intimisation and virtualisation of spiritual expressions. Religiosity that had previously been experienced both internally and externally, two essential dimensions of any religious act, was transformed into a predominantly private and virtual phenomenon. This transformation affected not only the ordinary liturgical life intrinsically linked to ecclesial community and sacred space, but also extraordinary forms of religiosity, including pilgrimage. Although the phenomenon of virtual pilgrimage to online chapels and shrines was known prior to the pandemic, developments in recent years have substantially increased interest in this form of devotion. Since pilgrimage to a sacred site requires both spiritual engagement and bodily participation, this study examines the possibilities and prospects of this emerging form of a traditional religious practice. The question of whether virtual pilgrimage may, in the future, constitute an independent and, in a certain sense, autonomous form of spiritual expression, or whether it represents merely a temporary phenomenon, emerges from an analysis of faith in both its bodily (external) and spiritual (internal) dimensions. Since these two dimensions are inseparable components of faith, virtual pilgrimage can be considered as a distinct phenomenon only in relation, whether close or remote, to physical pilgrimage. Nevertheless, to adequately acknowledge that virtual pilgrimage bears the characteristics of the “signs of the times”, it should be evaluated in a new, more comprehensive, and open manner. It may thus be understood as a primary spiritual phenomenon with the potential to significantly influence the pilgrim’s inner disposition and thereby substantially contribute to the attainment of the goals of pilgrimage, whether or not physical participation is possible. Full article

Kang Youwei (1858–1927) reimagined Confucius as the founding religious leader of Confucianism, a conceptual framework underpinning his entire ideological system of Confucian thought. Yet existing scholarship has largely overlooked systematic analysis of this theoretical reconstruction. Influenced by the impact–response paradigm, many studies have also neglected Kang’s core intention to pursue cross-civilizational dialogue and establish a universalist Confucianism through such interpretive innovation. Faced with the late-Qing predicament of the imbalance between a dominant Western world and a weakened China, Kang thoroughly redefined Confucius by shifting his image from a sage who transmitted rather than created ancient wisdom to a religious authority who reformed institutions through classical precedents. This paper argues that Kang’s reinterpretation was neither a simplistic religious adaptation nor a conservative defence of traditional culture. His fundamental aim was to correct Western-centric bias, facilitate equal Sino-Western civilizational dialogue, critique inherent structural dilemmas of modern Western civilization, and propose the Confucian Way as a viable solution to these deep-rooted crises. Full article

Early childhood is a critical period in which religious and moral foundations are established, and the materials used in this process directly influence the quality of learning. In Türkiye, institutional religious education for early childhood is provided through Qur’an courses for children aged 4–6 years, affiliated with the Presidency of Religious Affairs. This study examines the attitudes of instructors working in these courses toward material use and the types of materials preferred in the educational process. Designed within a quantitative research approach using a survey model, the study aimed to collect data from instructors working in Qur’an courses for 4–6-year-old children during the 2023–2024 academic year in Türkiye. Based on voluntary participation, 363 instructors took part in the study. Data were collected through the Material Use Questionnaire and the Attitude Scale Toward Material Use in the Classroom Environment questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS 22.0. Due to the non-normal distribution of the data, the Kruskal–Wallis H test and the Mann–Whitney U test were applied. The findings show that instructors have positive attitudes toward the use of instructional materials and that printed and auditory materials are the most frequently used in the educational process. Full article

Water pipe smoking, or hookah smoking, is a growing public health concern ingrained in urban leisure cultures. Even though hookah smoking is common, the localized spatial drivers of this activity are still poorly understood. In order to close this gap, this study examined the locations of 273 hookah cafés in the Tabriz metropolis in Iran, modeling the distribution of these cafés against eight urban predictors: population density, road networks, and six distinct land use categories, such as commercial, administrative, educational, industrial, religious, and recreational land use. We combined Kernel Density Estimation (KDE) with Local Bivariate Relationships (LBR) using a high-resolution spatial approach. The findings indicate a non-random and spatially clustered pattern, using entropy-based measures of local relationship complexity. With the highest mean entropy value (0.84) and percentage of significant relationships (87.7%), educational land use density was found to be the best predictor. Additionally, there was a robust and consistent correlation with commercial land use density. Relationships with administrative and recreational land uses, on the other hand, showed lower entropy and were weaker and more dispersed. According to this study’s findings, the distribution of hookah cafés is spatially correlated to youth concentration and commercial activity patterns. Entropy analysis reveals substantial neighborhood-level variation in predictor influence, highlighting the value of local spatial analysis for identifying place-specific exposure. Full article

The cultural valorization-based territorial recognition program has established itself as an effective strategy for fostering sustainability in rural tourism destinations. However, there is limited evidence of their influence from the community’s perspective. This study analyzes the relationship between the conditions of territorial recognition promoted by the “Pueblos con Encanto” (Charming Villages) program and the sustainability of the Cruz Pampa–Yapatera tourist destination. A mixed-methods approach was employed, utilizing a non-experimental, cross-sectional, and correlational design. For the quantitative part, a structured questionnaire was administered to a sample of 336 residents from the area, using simple random sampling. Data analysis included statistics and Pearson’s correlation. For the qualitative part, 13 interviews were conducted with representative members. These people have influence over the governance of the area. The results of the triangulation showed that, according to the residents’ perception, Cruz Pampa–Yapatera meets the requirements for the “Pueblos con Encanto” program. It is evidenced in its historical heritage and Afro-Peruvian cultural heritage, such as its cumananas, local cuisine, and religious festivities. However, it has deficiencies in infrastructure and tourist facilities that require improvements to strengthen the tourist experience and preserve its cultural identity. Furthermore, the “Pueblos con Encanto” recognition program is positively and significantly related to the current sustainability of the destination. The research demonstrates, through empirical assessment, a positive perception among the local population of sustainability in their community based on the “Pueblos con Encanto” program criteria. A process that should be incorporated into the evaluation framework for the granting of such recognition. Full article

Digital transformation has profoundly reshaped caregiving practices, yet its influence on family cohesion within disability contexts remains underexplored, particularly in Arab societies. This qualitative phenomenological study examines how digital technologies shape family cohesion among Jordanian caregivers of children with disabilities. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 22 primary caregivers, and data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. The findings reveal a central tension of being “between connectivity and care,” articulated through four interrelated themes: (1) a digital double-bind in which online support networks function as a vital “virtual village” while simultaneously contributing to intra-familial fragmentation; (2) the reconfiguration of care labor, whereby digital management emerges as an invisible and gendered form of caregiving work, often positioning mothers as primary digital coordinators; (3) the translation of traditional social capital (wasta) into digital spaces to navigate systemic resource constraints, producing new moral and emotional burdens; and (4) the strategic use of digital platforms to preserve cultural, religious, and familial identity in the face of stigma, thereby reinforcing internal cohesion. These findings suggest that digital technologies do not merely facilitate connection but actively reconfigure family dynamics through ongoing negotiation between support and strain. The study underscores the need for family-centered digital inclusion policies and support interventions that mitigate digital burdens while harnessing technology’s potential to strengthen culturally grounded resilience among families of children with disabilities. Full article

This paper is the first attempt to interpret the visual ‘construemes’ by the constructivist poet Alexei N. Chicherin, published in the anthology Mena vsekh which appeared in Moscow in1924. ‘Construemes’ can be considered the most enigmatic artifacts of the Russian avant-garde. Although ‘construemes’ can be easily confused with meaningless visual zaum (‘the transrational’), Chicherin’s actions and the very nature of his personality prevent one from interpreting ‘construemes’ as actionist endeavors to scandalize or a ‘play on nonsense’. Analysis of the poet’s treatise Kan-Fun published in Moscow in 1926 required finding the key to deciphering the ‘construemes’, reveals the positivist nature of Chicherin’s visual–phonological exercises. In the treatise, the poet argues for the primacy of the eye and vision. He illustrates synthetic ‘signs’ or ‘pictograms’ with the quotidian example of propaganda posters, capable of influencing millions more effectively than words alone. The study emphasizes the enigmatic nature of the titles of Chicherin’s books, the Nietzschean subtexts of his self-presentation, encrypted allusions to the esoteric and magical tradition of the Tarot, and religious symbolism. Sixteen illustrations help the understanding of Chicherin’s logic behind the creation of his four ‘construemes’, including the most mysterious composition called ‘Raman’ (‘the shortest Kan-Fun Novel in the world’). The structure of this text synthesizes the verbal, visual–graphic, acoustic (phonological symbols) and musical (notes) levels. The article also examines Chicherin’s proven techniques: the appropriation of the sacred dimension and self-presentation as an actor possessing genuine knowledge and capable of competing alone with the entire literary environment. Full article

Prior to the Tang Dynasty, interpretations of the Laozi fell into two traditions: the Pre-Qin and Han tradition, represented by Yan Zun, and the Wei–Jin tradition, represented by Wang Bi. The commentaries on the Laozi in circulation today are influenced by metaphysics in emphasizing “non-being” (wu) as the substance of the Dao (dao). Yan Zun’s Laozi zhigui 老子指歸 (lit. “Purport of the Laozi”) is the oldest extant commentary. In his thought, Yan carries on the legacies of the Laozi and the Zhuangzi and serves as a precursor to later religious Daoism. Yan Zun established a triadic framework—comprising the Dao, Vacuity, and Spontaneity—that shaped Han and Tang Daoism. This reading inherits the Pre-Qin Daoist principle that takes Vacuity as its ontological root and yielding softness as its operative function, laying the theoretical foundation for religious Daoist thought in the Jin and Tang dynasties. Yan Zun’s interpretations of the Laozi frequently surprise modern scholars, yet his views align closely with the contents of the Mawangdui Laozi silk manuscripts (c. 168 BCE) and Peking University Western Han bamboo-slip Laozi (c. 150 BCE), which demonstrates his distinctive scholarly contribution and contemporary relevance. Full article

This study analyzes the determinants of marital happiness among 162 religiously married respondents (Catholic and Evangelical) using probit and logit models. Intrinsic religiosity captured by Salvation in God and Faith in God emerges as the strongest predictor of marital satisfaction, with positive and significant effects across specifications. Frequency of prayer has a smaller but positive influence, underscoring the primacy of belief over ritual practice. Household income contributes modestly, while age patterns show younger couples (18–24) report lower happiness, with satisfaction increasing in older age groups. Denominational interactions reveal that evangelicals derive higher marital well-being from intrinsic beliefs, whereas Catholic respondents’ happiness is more tied to income and institutional religious practice. Gender effects also vary: Catholic women benefit more from faith, whereas effects for evangelical women are smaller. Willingness-to-pay (WTP) estimates for marital happiness via prayer highlight these differences: evangelicals exhibit WTP of $4.57 (probit) and $2.05 (logit) per person, compared to Catholics at $0.046 and $0.087, respectively. These findings demonstrate that belief-oriented religiosity, age, and denominational context are primary determinants of marital happiness. Full article

Christian Orthodox iconography is a fundamental element of the religious cultural heritage of many countries. Iconoclasm, vandalism, and the passage of time ruined the appearance of icons, making it difficult to recognize the depicted saints. This work aims to test the performance of 13 state-of-the-art deep learning models for the task of Christian Orthodox saints’ recognition from images of preserved wooden hand-painted icons, which has never before been reported in the literature. Additionally, this work introduces the first public image dataset (ICONSAINT—ICONographic SAINT Recognition Dataset) of saint icons for classification tasks, including 2730 annotated images of 546 icons of 123 classes. All models were tested in three experimental setups, involving a balanced part of the dataset of six classes, an imbalanced part of the dataset of 12 classes and a medium-imbalanced part of the dataset of eight classes, reporting accuracy of up to 89% with VGG19 for the balanced data, of up to 78% for MobileNet with the imbalanced data, and of up to 87% with DenseNet201 for the medium-imbalanced data. Moreover, Class Activation Maps (CAMs) were considered to highlight the regions of the input image that mostly influenced the decision of the models towards adding valuable explainability to the results through visual explanations. Full article

This paper investigates how hybrid temples are created and transformed into tourist attractions, focusing on Wat Phothikyan Phutthathum—a Thai–Chinese temple located in Kelantan, close to Malaysia’s border with Thailand. This study aims to understand how both the local Thai minority and Chinese majority contribute to temple hybridisation, examine the influence of such temples on community identity, and explore their growing importance as tourist attractions. It highlights the negotiation and cultural exchange that shape new heritage spaces for borderland communities. Using visual analysis and interviews, the research shows that, since there are no Chinese temples nearby, Chinese Buddhists and Taoists adapt Thai temples by incorporating their own rituals and art. This results in blended iconography and practices, guided by an open-minded Thai monk. Features like large Buddha statues, staircases featuring naga-dragon designs, and murals combining different traditions reveal this fusion. The temple’s unique artwork and spiritual environment attract visitors from Muslim-majority areas and various countries like Thailand, Taiwan, and Singapore. As tourism becomes central to the temple’s role, the local authorities emphasise its religious significance and multicultural symbolism, aligning with economic interests and daily interactions among minority groups. This study offers valuable empirical and theoretical perspectives on the blending of religious heritage sites in border regions. Full article

Through the process of modernization, Turkish literature transcends aesthetics to reflect sociological and cultural changes. The tensions between the individual and society, tradition and modernity, and religion that emerged with Westernization are particularly reflected in the novel. Religious discourse takes different forms at each historical threshold during the modernization process. During the Tanzimat, Servet-i Fünûn, Milli Edebiyat and Socialist Realist periods, it served as a defensive or critical reference point in the face of debates on modernization and Westernization. With the secular policies of the Republic, its public function transformed, evolving into an arena for cultural and moral debate, and it increased its visibility within the multiparty political structure after 1950. From the 1980s onwards, Islamic discourse became an artistic and ideological force in both the social and literary spheres. This article examines the stages of Islamic discourse in Turkish novels within a historical framework, arguing that religious representations are not merely elements reflecting social change, but also play an active role in the reconstruction of identity formation and narrative aesthetics. The study analyzes the functions of religious elements using a text-centered approach. The findings show that religion is not merely a theme in literary texts, but a living element that transforms alongside society, influences identity formation, and shapes narrative aesthetics. Full article

Stunting remains a major public health challenge in Indonesia, with a national prevalence of 21.6% in 2022. Rural regions such as Madura face heightened vulnerability due to cultural dietary taboos, gendered caregiving structures, intergenerational authority, and digital disparities that shape household nutrition decision-making. This formative qualitative study explores stakeholders’ perceptions to inform the conceptual development of gender-sensitive serious games for nutrition communication in rural Indonesia. Using an exploratory design, 42 informants, including mothers of children under five, brides-to-be, health cadres, midwives, religious and community leaders, and local digital actors, were recruited across rural Madura. Thematic analysis examined trust-based communication patterns, gender dynamics, perceptions of artificial intelligence (AI), and contextual conditions influencing digital health acceptance. Findings indicate that acceptance of gender-sensitive serious games depends on cultural alignment, institutional endorsement, perceived credibility, and usability in low-resource settings. Participants consistently positioned serious games and AI-supported features as complementary communication layers rather than replacements for health workers. Game-based tools were considered potentially relevant when designed to support intergenerational co-play, integrate local narratives and religious values, and function in low-connectivity environments. Rather than evaluating an implemented intervention, this study proposes a conceptual design framework grounded in feminist communication perspectives, serious games scholarship, and technology acceptance theory. The findings provide context-sensitive insights to guide future prototype development and pilot testing within hybrid, community-based nutrition communication systems. Full article

The Ottoman Empire possessed a multi-religious social structure whose continuity was maintained through legal and administrative mechanisms. While Muslims, Christians, and Jews preserved their religious identities within the imperial framework, conversion was a closely monitored and regulated process at both the individual and public levels. Because religious conversion had direct consequences for taxation, legal and social status, family structure, and communal affiliation, it became a matter of concern for the Ottoman legal order. In this context, the sharia courts constituted the primary institutional arena in which cases of ihtidā (conversion) were recorded, supervised, and given legal effect; they also produced the principal documentation that verified the procedural validity of conversion and secured the legal standing of new Muslims. This study examines the social and legal contexts of religious conversion in the Ottoman provinces through cases recorded in the sixteenth- to nineteenth-century court registers of the district of Rodosçuk. It challenges interpretations that portray ihtidā as a coercive and one-directional policy of Islamization, demonstrating instead that legal protection and economic opportunity could function both as outcomes of conversion and as enabling preconditions. The study also questions assumptions about systematic judicial bias against non-Muslims, emphasizing that in the Rodosçuk example the courts operated as a neutral forum accessible to different confessional communities. The evidence suggests that conversion unfolded through slow, gradual, and largely individual processes shaped by the combined influence of religious, economic, and social motivations. Full article