A systematic literature review of risks in Islamic banking system: research agenda and future research directions

This study employs a systematic review approach to examine the existing body of literature on risk management in Islamic banking. The focus of this work is to analyze published manuscripts to provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of research in this field. After conducting an extensive examination of eighty articles classified as Q1 and Q2, we have identified six prominent risk themes. These themes include stability and resilience, risk-taking behavior, credit risk, Shariah non-compliance risk, liquidity risk, and other pertinent concerns that span various disciplines. The assessment yielded four key themes pertaining to the risk management of the Islamic banking system, namely prudential regulation, environment and sustainability, cybersecurity, and risk-taking behavior. Two risk frameworks were provided based on the identified themes. The microframework encompasses internal and external risk elements that influence the bank’s basic activities and risk feedback system. The macro-framework encompasses several elements that influence the risk management environment for Islamic banks (IB), including exogenous institutional factors, domestic endogenous factors, and global endogenous factors. Thematic discoveries are incorporated to identify potential avenues for future research and policy consequences

Knowledge in a religion and worldviews approach in English schools

The Final Report of the Commission on Religious Education (CoRE) in England published in 2018 advocated what it called a religion and worldviews approach. One of the significant questions it provoked was the approach to knowledge that it took. This article explores this question. It first explains the background to the Commission Report and then the subsequent interpretative work undertaken by the Religious Education Council of England and Wales to develop its recommendations. It then focuses on the vision lying behind the religion and worldviews approach that draws on CoRE’s claim that ‘everyone has a worldview’, and reviews the debate that resulted around that claim. A detailed consideration of the approach to worldview taken in the subsequent REC work and its exemplification in a revised Statement of Entitlement follows. Finally, it is argued that the understanding of knowledge taken in this literature resonates with that of Michael Polanyi in his development of the idea of personal knowledge and that of Andrew and Elina Wright’s exposition of critical realism. The article advocates that this results in an approach to RE that puts learning to make scholarly and reflexive judgments at the heart of knowledge-rich RE

Religious delusion or religious belief?

How shall we distinguish religious delusion from sane religious belief? Making this determination is not usually found to be difficult in clinical practice – but what shall be our theoretical rationale? Attempts to answer this question often try to provide differentiating principles by which the religious “sheep” may be separated from the delusional “goats.” As we shall see, none of these attempts work. We may, however, ask whether the assumption underlying the search for a differentiating principle – that religious beliefs and religious delusions can usefully be considered species of a common genus – is a good one. In this paper, we outline an alternative, “disjunctive,” understanding of religious belief and religious delusion. By reminding ourselves both of what is central to any delusion and of what distinguishes bona fide religious claims from their pretenders, we show how to resolve our reflective puzzlement about religious delusion without recourse to differentiating principles

‘Where are you from?’ and ‘foreigners’: The discursive construction of identity in the personal everyday lives of well established academics living in the UK

This paper discusses the discursive ways in which a group of well-established academics living in the UK construct their sense of identity in their personal everyday lives-outside the context of academia, by projecting their self-perception vis à vis how they believe they are perceived by ‘the white perceiving subject’ (Rosa and Flores, 2017). While race and accent are the lens through which these academics believe are perceived whereby, they are labelled ‘foreigners’ and questioned about who they are through what can be described as a politically loaded question of ‘where are you from?’, they resist being framed within these categories. This is by labelling themselves differently in ways which defy identity ascription and assert their own sense of identity. This paper reveals that experiences of exclusion and discrimination permeate the lives of these professionals who are ascribed identities based on perceptions of how they look and sound

The role of use cases when adopting augmented reality into higher education pedagogy

Extended Reality (XR) technologies can be used to encourage educators to introduce modern, rapidly evolving experiential digital learning activities to enhance their teaching practices (Jang et al., 2021). Many Authors’ (e.g. (Milgram et al., 1995); (Farshid et al., 2018)) suggest that AR and VR technologies are on a continuum of technologies, where Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) are two of the most common XR technologies in use across business and society today. Using AR in a learning environment provides the ability to augment existing teaching activities with an additional experiential digital layer with a lower barrier to entry than other XR technologies. Therefore, the usage of AR is presented as a pragmatic approach to encouraging the wider adoption of XR technologies in Higher Education. The aim of the paper is to provide practical guidance on how to identify where AR can be used to enhance the learning experience and meet the expectations of students who are increasingly using AR and related technologies in their daily lives

Interventions to improve continence for children and young people with neurodisability: a national survey of practitioner and family perspectives and experiences.

Objective Describe families’ experiences of interventions to improve continence in children and young people with neurodisability, and health professionals’ and school and social care staff’s perspectives regarding factors affecting intervention use. Design Four online surveys were developed and advertised to parent carers, young people with neurodisability, health professionals and school and social care staff, via societies, charities, professional contacts, schools, local authorities, and national parent carer and family forums, who shared invitations with their networks. Survey questions explored: difficulties helping children and young people use interventions; acceptability of interventions and waiting times; ease of use and availability of interventions, and facilitators and barriers to improving continence. Results 1028 parent carers, 26 young people, 352 health professionals and 202 school and social care staff registered to participate. Completed surveys were received from 579 (56.3%) parent carers, 20 (77%) young people, 193 (54.8%) health professionals, and 119 (58.9%) school and social care staff. Common parent carer-reported difficulties in using interventions to help their children and young people to learn to use the toilet included their child’s lack of understanding about what was required (reported by 337 of 556 (60.6%) parent carers who completed question) and their child’s lack of willingness (343 of 556, 61.7%). Almost all (142 of 156, 91%) health professionals reported lack of funding and resources as barriers to provision of continence services. Many young people (14 of 19, 74%) were unhappy using toilet facilities while out and about. Conclusions Perceptions that children lack understanding and willingness, and inadequate facilities impact the implementation of toileting interventions for children and young people with neurodisability. Greater understanding is needed for children to learn developmentally appropriate toileting skills. Further research is recommended around availability and acceptability of interventions to ensure quality of life is unaffected

Sports Classification and Athletes With Intellectual Disabilities: Measuring Health Status Using a Questionnaire Based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health

Most people with intellectual disabilities have comorbid health conditions, which will impact optimization of sporting performance. Classification is used in Paralympic events to ensure that those with similar levels of functional ability compete fairly against each other. An evidence-based approach needs to be developed for athletes with intellectual disabilities to be classified in relation to their overall functional capacity into competition groups of similar ability. This research builds on previous work using the taxonomy of The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) to group athletes with intellectual disabilities into comparable competition groups as an approach to Paralympic classification. Three groups of athletes—Virtus, Special Olympics, and Down syndrome—are compared using the ICF questionnaire indicating functional health status in relation to sporting performance. The questionnaire was found to discriminate between athletes with Down syndrome and other athletes, and an approach to using a cutoff score to develop competition classes is explored

Begging places: Poverty, race, and visibility on Ludgate Hill, c.1815

When someone begs, they are asking for more than casual charity. They are asking to be seen even just briefly, even just sidelong. Begging asks not for a lingering and considered gaze, but rather for mere acknowledgement: they are here, human, suffering, and real. To work at all, begging must be visible, not just in the everyday sense of sight but also socially, so that others may see the person begging be relieved, or spurned, and in turn feel drawn themselves. This short chapter charts the experiences of Charles McGee, an elderly Black man who swept 'Waithman's Crossing' at Ludgate in Regency London. Well-known enough to have his likeness drawn, McGee's biography shows how the echoes of mendicity, race, and visibility can pass through intervening centuries

Clinical and exercise professional opinion on designing a postpartum return-to-running training programme: an international Delphi study and consensus statement.

Returning to running postpartum presents challenges such as musculoskeletal pain and pelvic floor dysfunction for some females, but there is little guidance on developing and progressing postpartum training programmes. This study aims to establish expert consensus recommendations on designing and modifying a postpartum return-to-running training programme, highlight costs and access to qualified professionals as potential barriers and discuss clinical, research and sports policy implications.A three-round Delphi survey of clinical and exercise professionals working with postpartum runners was conducted. Round I consisted of open-ended questions related to designing the training plan, modifications based on biopsychosocial factors, key muscle groups to train and referral and payment sources. Rounds II and III involved Likert-scale voting to identify consensus (≥75% agreement).118 participants completed Round I, 107 completed Round II (response rate 90.6%) and 95 completed Round III (response rate 80.5%). Consensus was reached in 42/47 (89%) statements, including recommendations for a period of relative rest, gradual increases in duration and intensity, starting with a walk-run protocol and incorporating strength training. Training should be modified based on musculoskeletal or pelvic symptoms, sleep, mental health, lactation or energy availability concerns. Cost and access to experienced postpartum running professionals were identified as potential barriers for runners to receive care.Consensus recommendations for a postpartum return-to-running programme include an individualised exercise prescription, gradual increases in physical activity, walk-run protocols and targeted muscle strengthening. Further research and improved access to clinical and exercise professionals are needed to inform and facilitate best practices. [Abstract copyright: © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.

The acute impact of endurance exercise on right ventricular structure and function: A systematic review and meta-analysis

The benefits of regular exercise for cardiovascular health are well publicized, and at population level, evidence suggests that more exercise is better (Fig. 1).1,2 Regular exercise is associated with several cardiac adaptations, which is collectively referred to as “the athlete’s heart.” Such adaptations are evident in those who participate in regular training and competitions in sports of moderate to high intensity and are more prevalent in individuals participating in endurance sports. Since 1979, there have been in excess of 50 studies that have investigated the effect of endurance exercise on the left ventricle (LV). Studies suggest acute impairment of LV systolic and diastolic function postendurance exercise with increased LV volume and mass in the long term