Mapping and Global Research Trends in Sharia Insurance (Takaful) Using the Scopus Database (An Analysis of Bibliometrics)

The research objectives are: 1) to analyze the pattern of temporal distribution of journal articles about sharia insurance; 2) to show the contributions of authors, leading countries and the most productive academic institutions; 3) to map research topics; 4) to map state domination based on its application, and 5) to provide insight into the potential for collaboration and future directions. Data were analyzed using content analysis techniques based on maps produced by the CiteSpace V. application. Content analysis is a systematic test that can be replicated from communication symbols, where these symbols are given numerical values based on valid measurements, and analysis uses statistical methods

Contemporary trends in Brazilian human resource management studies over the last decade (2001–2010)

In seeking to detail what is new in the lesser-known field of Brazilian Human Resource Management (HRM) research, this study analyzes 136 recent Brazilian HRM articles over the last decade from 2001 until 2010. Findings reveal that contemporary Brazilian HRM research contains: a wide range of HRM topics; the isomorphic use of some Western HRM themes; and case-based, descriptive methodologies using non-probability sampling. While the number of recently published Brazilian HRM studies has increased, such research seems ripe for further empirical and theoretical development. Our contributions to knowledge lie in: surfacing and classifying recent Brazilian HRM research trends and identifying potentially fruitful areas for future research. Implications for practitioners include the need to attract and retain expert staff, to use more localized pay and reward systems, and to assess the usefulness of HR interventions in the public sector

On the structure of buoyant fires with varying levels of fuel-turbulence

This paper employs a novel burner to study the effects of fuel-generated turbulence on the spatial and temporal structure of buoyant turbulent diffusion flames which are representative of large fires. Fuel-turbulence levels are increased using a perforated plate that issues high-velocity jets, enabling shearing of the fuel stream. The perforated plate may be recessed to control the turbulence level at the jet exit plane. It is shown that the exit plane axial velocity fluctuations can be increased from 0.135 m/s to 1.813 m/s. Varying the levels of fuel-turbulence in the burner allows for the control of key processes defining buoyant fires such as the spatial and temporal flame structure and flame instability modes. These processes are characterised by high-speed simultaneous imaging of planar laser-induced fluorescence of the OH radical (OH-PLIF) and Mie scattering from soot particles. Increasing the fuel-turbulence level deforms the flame, which promotes non-radial lateral entrainment into the flame sheet. This results in a sharp increase in the tilting of the near-field flame sheet along the vertical flame axis. Strong angular entrainment forces are shown to overcome the diffusive and thermal expansive forces at the flame neck, which leads to a strained asymmetric sinuous flame pinch-off instability, followed by separation of the flame base. Sinuous pinch-off instabilities occur at a greater frequency than the symmetric varicose pinch-off instabilities observed for flames with low fuel-turbulence. The asymmetric stretching of the flame neck inhibits the formation of the classical puffing instability formed with an axisymmetric plume that defines classically buoyant flames. Probability density functions calculated for the flame front curvature and flame surface area are shown to monotonically broaden in the near-field region of the flame due to lateral entrainment effects. The transition to buoyancy-driven turbulence also shifts to an increasingly more upstream location. This burner, with its well-defined boundary conditions and novel data, forms a platform for advancing capabilities to model complex fire phenomena including turbulence-buoyancy interactions

Vulnerability of the British swine industry to classical swine fever

Classical swine fever (CSF) is a notifiable, highly contagious viral disease of swine which results in severe welfare and economic consequences in affected countries. To improve preparedness, it is critical to have some understanding of how CSF would spread should it be introduced. Based on the data recorded during the 2000 epidemic of CSF in Great Britain (GB), a spatially explicit, premises-based model was developed to explore the risk of CSF spread in GB. We found that large outbreaks of CSF would be rare and generated from a limited number of areas in GB. Despite the consistently low vulnerability of the British swine industry to large CSF outbreaks, we identified concerns with respect to the role played by the non-commercial sector of the industry. The model further revealed how various epidemiological features may influence the spread of CSF in GB, highlighting the importance of between-farm biosecurity in preventing widespread dissemination of the virus. Knowledge of factors affecting the risk of spread are key components for surveillance planning and resource allocation, and this work provides a valuable stepping stone in guiding policy on CSF surveillance and control in GB

Financial Evaluation of Different Vaccination Strategies for Controlling the Bluetongue Virus Serotype 8 Epidemic in the Netherlands in 2008

Background: Bluetongue (BT) is a vector-borne disease of ruminants caused by bluetongue virus that is transmitted by biting midges (Culicoides spp.). In 2006, the introduction of BTV serotype 8 (BTV-8) caused a severe epidemic in Western and Central Europe. The principal effective veterinary measure in response to BT was believed to be vaccination accompanied by other measures such as movement restrictions and surveillance. As the number of vaccine doses available at the start of the vaccination campaign was rather uncertain, the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality and the Dutch agricultural industry wanted to evaluate several different vaccination strategies. This study aimed to rank eight vaccination strategies based on their efficiency (i.e. net costs in relation to prevented losses or benefits) for controlling the bluetongue virus serotype 8 epidemic in 2008 Methodology/Principal Findings: An economic model was developed that included the Dutch professional cattle, sheep and goat sectors together with the hobby farms. Strategies were evaluated based on the least cost - highest benefit frontier, the benefit-cost ratio and the total net returns. Strategy F, where all adult sheep at professional farms in the Netherlands would be vaccinated was very efficient at lowest costs, whereas strategy D, where additional to all adult sheep at professional farms also all adult cattle in the four Northern provinces would be vaccinated, was also very efficient but at a little higher costs. Strategy C, where all adult sheep and cattle at professional farms in the whole of the Netherlands would be vaccinated was also efficient but again at higher costs. Conclusions/Significance: This study demonstrates that a financial analysis differentiates between vaccination strategies and indicates important decision rules based on efficienc

Assessing the potential for Bluetongue virus 8 to spread and vaccination strategies in Scotland

Europe has seen frequent outbreaks of Bluetongue (BT) disease since 2006, including an outbreak of BT virus serotype 8 in central France during 2015 that has continued to spread in Europe during 2016. Thus, assessing the potential for BTv-8 spread and determining the optimal deployment of vaccination is critical for contingency planning. We developed a spatially explicit mathematical model of BTv-8 spread in Scotland and explored the sensitivity of transmission to key disease spread parameters for which detailed empirical data is lacking. With parameters at mean values, there is little spread of BTv-8 in Scotland. However, under a “worst case” but still feasible scenario with parameters at the limits of their ranges and temperatures 1 °C warmer than the mean, we find extensive spread with 203,000 sheep infected given virus introduction to the south of Scotland between mid-May and mid-June. Strategically targeted vaccine interventions can greatly reduce BT spread. Specifically, despite BT having most clinical impact in sheep, we show that vaccination can have the greatest impact on reducing BTv infections in sheep when administered to cattle, which has implications for disease control policy

A multistage sequencing strategy pinpoints novel candidate alleles for Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy and supports gene misregulation as its pathomechanism

BACKGROUND: As genome-wide approaches prove difficult with genetically heterogeneous orphan diseases, we developed a new approach to identify candidate genes. We applied this to Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy (EDMD), characterised by early onset contractures, slowly progressive muscular wasting, and life-threatening heart conduction disturbances with wide intra- and inter-familial clinical variability. Roughly half of EDMD patients are linked to six genes encoding nuclear envelope proteins, but the disease mechanism remains unclear because the affected proteins function in both cell mechanics and genome regulation. METHODS: A primer library was generated to test for mutations in 301 genes from four categories: (I) all known EDMD-linked genes; (II) genes mutated in related muscular dystrophies; (III) candidates generated by exome sequencing in five families; (IV) functional candidates - other muscle nuclear envelope proteins functioning in mechanical/genome processes affected in EDMD. This was used to sequence 56 unlinked patients with EDMD-like phenotype. FINDINGS: Twenty-one patients could be clearly assigned: 18 with mutations in genes of similar muscular dystrophies; 3 with previously missed mutations in EDMD-linked genes. The other categories yielded novel candidate genes, most encoding nuclear envelope proteins with functions in gene regulation. INTERPRETATION: Our multi-pronged approach identified new disease alleles and many new candidate EDMD genes. Their known functions strongly argue the EDMD pathomechanism is from altered gene regulation and mechanotransduction due to connectivity of candidates from the nuclear envelope to the plasma membrane. This approach highlights the value of testing for related diseases using primer libraries and may be applied for other genetically heterogeneous orphan diseases. FUNDING: The Wellcome Trust, Muscular Dystrophy UK, Medical Research Council, European Community's Seventh Framework Programme "Integrated European -omics research project for diagnosis and therapy in rare neuromuscular and neurodegenerative diseases (NEUROMICS)"

High EMSY expression defines a BRCA‐like subgroup of high‐grade serous ovarian carcinoma with prolonged survival and hypersensitivity to platinum

Background Approximately half of high‐grade serous ovarian carcinomas (HGSOCs) demonstrate homologous recombination repair (HR) pathway defects, resulting in a distinct clinical phenotype comprising hypersensitivity to platinum, superior clinical outcome, and greater sensitivity to poly(adenosine diphosphate‐ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors. EMSY, which is known to be amplified in breast and ovarian cancers, encodes a protein reported to bind and inactivate BRCA2. Thus, EMSY overexpression may mimic BRCA2 mutation, resulting in HR deficiency. However, to our knowledge, the phenotypic consequences of EMSY overexpression in HGSOC patients has not been explored. Methods Here we investigate the impact of EMSY expression on clinical outcome and sensitivity to platinum‐based chemotherapy using available data from transcriptomically characterized HGSOC cohorts. Results High EMSY expression was associated with better clinical outcome in a cohort of 265 patients with HGSOC from Edinburgh (overall survival multivariable hazard ratio, 0.58 [95% CI, 0.38‐0.88; P = .011] and progression‐free survival multivariable hazard ratio, 0.62 [95% CI, 0.40‐0.96; P = .030]). Superior outcome also was demonstrated in the Medical Research Council ICON7 clinical trial and multiple publicly available data sets. Patients within the Edinburgh cohort who had high EMSY expression were found to demonstrate greater rates of complete response to multiple platinum‐containing chemotherapy regimens (radiological complete response rate of 44.4% vs 12.5% at second exposure; P = .035) and corresponding prolonged time to disease progression (median, 151.5 days vs 60.5 days after third platinum exposure; P = .004). Conclusions Patients with HGSOCs demonstrating high EMSY expression appear to experience prolonged survival and greater platinum sensitivity, reminiscent of BRCA‐mutant cases. These data are consistent with the notion that EMSY overexpression may render HGSOCs HR deficient

Cost Analysis of Various Low Pathogenic Avian Influenza Surveillance Systems in the Dutch Egg Layer Sector

Background: As low pathogenic avian influenza viruses can mutate into high pathogenic viruses the Dutch poultry sector implemented a surveillance system for low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) based on blood samples. It has been suggested that egg yolk samples could be sampled instead of blood samples to survey egg layer farms. To support future decision making about AI surveillance economic criteria are important. Therefore a cost analysis is performed on systems that use either blood or eggs as sampled material. Methodology/Principal Findings: The effectiveness of surveillance using egg or blood samples was evaluated using scenario tree models. Then an economic model was developed that calculates the total costs for eight surveillance systems that have equal effectiveness. The model considers costs for sampling, sample preparation, sample transport, testing, communication of test results and for the confirmation test on false positive results. The surveillance systems varied in sampled material (eggs or blood), sampling location (farm or packing station) and location of sample preparation (laboratory or packing station). It is shown that a hypothetical system in which eggs are sampled at the packing station and samples prepared in a laboratory had the lowest total costs (i.e. J 273,393) a year. Compared to this a hypothetical system in which eggs are sampled at the farm and samples prepared at a laboratory, and the currently implemented system in which blood is sampled at the farm and samples prepared at a laboratory have 6 % and 39 % higher costs respectively