A study of Islamic and conventional banks in Malaysia

Many scholars have researched comparison of conventional and Islamic banking systems, with regards to their performance from time to time. This study compares their respective profitability in terms of volume and volatility of their deposits and loans in Malaysia in a six years period (2006-2011) that other writers have not discussed in detail. The results in this study indicate that there are positive and significant relationships between volume of loans and volume of customers’ deposits and profitability of banks. However, volatility of loans and deposits does not have a significant impact on banks’ profit-efficiency in Malaysia. The results of this research also reveal that Malaysian conventional banks were more profitable than Islamic banks during the period of study. The ROA and ROE are significantly different and mean of ROA and ROE in conventional banks are higher than those in Islamic banks. The main contribution of banks’ profits comes from the spread between the interest earned on loans and the return payable on customer deposits. Both of these are internal factors. Volume of loans and volume of deposits are found to have significant influence on banks’ profitability. Therefore, managers and banks’ administrators should either focus their attention on these two determinants or adopt some kind of policies that will lead banks to increase their volume of loans and deposits to boost banks profitability level

Vocabulary Teaching Strategies: How Do They Affect L2 Learners’ Lexical Recall?

Abatract The present study set out to compare the effects of different vocabulary teaching strategies, teaching vocabularies through context, dictionary definition, and synonyms, on short-term and long-term retention of vocabulary items. 90 intermediate EFL learners were randomly divided into three groups of context, definition, and synonyms (thirty learners in each group). 30 vocabulary items were selected and taught to them in two sessions. Two delayed post-tests were administered to investigate the retention of vocabulary items, the first one after 4 weeks and the second after 8 weeks of delay. The obtained scores were analyzed through one-way ANOVA. Results revealed that the context method produced superior results compared with the other two methods in both delayed post-tests. The findings of the study provide pedagogical implications for EFL teachers, learners, syllabus designers, material developers and language test makers. The findings of the study also provide helpful information about the most effective way of teaching vocabulary that leads to a more durable retention of L2 words.   Keywords: Implicit and explicit learning, Vocabulary retention, Long term, Synonym, Definitio

The role of accounting thought in the face of financial and administrative corruption in Iraq ( Applied and analytical study on the accounting and control units working in government institutions in Diwaniyah )

يسعى هذا البحث إلى معرفة الدور الذي يمكن إن يحققه الفكر المحاسبي في مواجهة الفساد المالي والإداري في العراق، فقد تعرض هذا  الفكر التقليدي للعديد من الانتقادات نظرا لقصوره في معالجة قضايا الفساد نتيجة مرونته وقصوره في تطبيق القواعد والمعايير والسياسات المحاسبية, فالفساد المالي والإداري يعد مشكلة مجتمعية، تهدد كل المجتمعات وخاصة العراق على وجه التحديد، فهذه المشكلة ترتبط برغبة الإنسان في الحصول على مكاسب مادية طائلة بطرق غير مشروعة، والسبب في ذلك يعود إلى ضعف الأنظمة المحاسبية والرقابية من المنظورين المالي والإداري، وكذلك غياب دور المساءلة المحاسبية، فالفساد المالي والإداري استشرى في المؤسسات والدوائر الحكومية كالنار في الهشيم وعلى مختلف المستويات فلا يوجد مفصل من مفاصل الدولة أو احد مؤسساتها إلا وفيه شيء من الفساد ابتداء من التقاعس في انجاز الإعمال والواجبات المكلفين بها  فالوظائف المحاسبية والرقابية العامة أخذت تفقد هيبتها وتجهز على الإعمال والانجازات التي تحققها الأجهزة الإدارية التي ينشدها أفراد المجتمع. ومن اجل تحقيق هدف هذا البحث فقد تم استخدام المنهج التحليلي والتطبيقي، في تحليل مشكلة الفساد المالي والإداري في العراق، ثمّ استنتاج طرق المواجهة من خلال الفكر المحاسبي، كذلك محو الآثار السيئة التي خلفها الفساد المالي والإداري في الاقتصاد العراقي، ومما يترتب عليه من نهضة وتقدم اقتصادي شامل في العراق. This research seeks to know the role that accounting thinking can play in the face of financial and administrative corruption in Iraq. This traditional thinking has been criticized for its lack of dealing with corruption issues due to its flexibility and lack of application of accounting rules and standards. Financial and administrative corruption is a societal problem , Threatens all societies, especially Iraq in particular, this problem is linked to the desire of the human to obtain substantial material gains by illegal means, due to the weakness of accounting and control systems from the financial and administrative perspectives, as well as the absence of the role of accountability For accounting, financial and administrative corruption consulted in institutions and government departments such as wildfire at various levels there is no detailed joints of the state or one of its institutions except in it a bit of corruption from the failure to complete the work and the duties assigned to them, the functions of accounting and public control has lost prestige and equipped to work and achievements Achieved by the administrative organs sought by members of society.     In order to achieve the objective of this research, the analytical and applied approach was used to analyze the problem of financial and administrative corruption in Iraq, and then to conclude the methods of confrontation through accounting thought, as well as to erase the bad effects of financial and administrative corruption in the Iraqi economy and the consequent renaissance and progress Comprehensive economic in Iraq.   &nbsp

Allelopathy of sage and white wormwood on purslane germination and seedling growth.

A bioassay run was carried out in the incubator to evaluate possible allelopathic effects of water extracts of sage and white wormwood on germination and seedling growth of purslane. Results showed that the type of extract and its concentration (0, 5, 10, 15 and 20%) significantly influenced final germination percentage, germination rate and index, root and shoot length, root/shoot ratio, fresh and dry weight of seedling of purslane. The interaction between these two experimental factors was always significant, producing different results according to the different combination levels. The statistical comparison of means indicated that the maximum germination percentage and germination rate (respectively 68% and 11.4% d-1) were obtained from the untreated control (0% extract), while the lowest values for the same two characters occurred with 15% of sage (respectively 45% and 6.4% d-1) and 20% of white wormwood (38% and 7.5% d-1). Concerning germination indexes, the highest (55) and the lowest (32) values were observed respectively on the control and with 15% of sage extract or 20% of white wormwood extract. The longest (4.5 cm) and the shortest (1.3 cm) root of purslane were obtained with 5% of white wormwood and 20% of sage extracts, respectively. Changes in shoot length with sage and white wormwood extracts were similar to those in root length, even though shoot length was less affected by the concentration of extracts. Root and shoot length changes brought to maximum (22.0) and minimum (8.9) values for the root/shoot length ratio, respectively with 5% of white wormwood and 20% of sage extracts. The maximum fresh (2.111 g) and dry (0.338 g) seedling weight of purslane were obtained from untreated control, producing the same seedling weight with 5% of sage, 5 and 10% of white wormwood extract. While the minimum fresh (0.692 g) and dry (0.111 g) seedling weight were obtained from 15% of white wormwood extract, so that there is no significant differences between this value and the seedling weight produced under 10, 15 and 20% of sage and 20% of white wormwood extract

Effect of Chemical and Biological Phosphorus on the Yield of Summer Savory (Satureja hortensis L.)

To survey the effects of chemical and biological phosphorus on the yield and essential oil of Satureja hortensis L. as an important medicinal plant, factorial experiment was conducted based on randomized complete block design with three replicates at Research Station of Faculty of Agriculture, Urmia University in 2011. The treatments were chemical phosphorus fertilizer with four levels (0, 50, 100 and 150 kg/ha P as triple supper phosphate) and biological phosphorus fertilizer with four levels (0, 100, 200 and 300 g/ha Pseudomonas putida Strain P13 and Bacillus lentus Strain P5). The results of ANOVA showed the significant interaction effect between chemical and biological phosphorus on the yield of fresh weight, biological yield, stem dry weight, and the yield of drug and essential oil. There was non-significant effect of chemical and biological phosphorus on the essential oil percent, harvest index of drug and harvest index of essential oil. The highest amounts of total fresh weight (23327 kg/ha), biological yield (5282 kg/ha), stem dry weight (2523 kg/ha) and yield of drug (2759 kg/ha) and essential oil (79 kg/ha) were obtained from 200 g/ha of biological phosphorus without chemical fertilizer. The minimum amounts of total fresh weight, biological yield, stem dry weight, the yield of drug and essential oil were observed in higher than 200 g/ha of biological phosphorus

High-Frequency in Vitro Direct Shoot Regeneration from Nodal Explants of Hyssop Plant (Hyssopus officinalis L.)

Considering great medicinal value of Hyssopus officinalis L. and possibility of its mass production through in vitro culture, two individual experiments was conducted. Effect of various concentrations (0, 2.2, 4.4 and 11 µmol) of TDZ and BAP in combination with 1 µmol of IAA on direct regeneration from nodal explants were assessed. Significant difference between treatments was observed (P≤ 0.01). In BAP treatments, the maximum shoot-buds induction (9 shoot-buds per explant) and shoot regeneration percentage (96.66%) were observed on MS medium fortified with 2.2 and 4.4 µmol BAP in combination with 1 µmol of IAA. In TDZ treatments, the highest regeneration percentage was achieved in MS medium supplemented with TDZ (2.2 µmol) and IAA (1 µmol), and the maximum shoot-buds induction (19.83 shoot-buds per explant) was observed in medium containing 4.4 µmol of TDZ in combination with 1 µmol of IAA. The highest root production frequency (89.5%) was achieved in medium contained 9.84 µmol of IBA. Rooted plants were acclimatized successfully in greenhouse conditions with 100% survival. The protocol described here could be applicable for mass in vitro production of the valuable medicinal plant Hyssopus officinalis L. for its genetic resource conservation as well as pharmaceutical purpose

Increasing convergence rate in two-objective optimization of water distribution network with engineering judgment

Background: Water distribution networks (WDNs) are facilities that require massive investment and their optimization is very important. This study aimed to optimization and development of models for promoting WDNs with using engineering judgment. In this method, instead of controlling all system states, it is possible to search the optimal set of options based on engineering judgment and hydraulic and physical status of the system. Thus, the time to solve the optimization problem is greatly reduced, which is very important in widespread networks with many components. The case study was a WDN in western Tehran. Methods: To reduce the calculation size and increase the convergence rate using engineering judgment, the parts of the network where there was no possibility of parallel piping was ignored. For other parts with a low pressure problem, parallel piping was defined. A FMGA and WaterGEMS hydraulic software were used to optimize the WDN. Cost minimization and pressure benefit maximization were the objective functions and the diameters of the pipes were considered to be the decision variables. Results: The results of optimization the network showed that, the cost decreased 89.84% and the pressure in all nodes, except one node, reached within the standard range (26-60 mH20). It included 2387 m of pipe with diameters of 100, 150, 200, 250, 350, 400 and 500 mm. Conclusion: The results of optimization and modification of the network using engineering judgment confirm that the cost decreased significantly and the pressure level in all the nodes increased to above the allowable minimum pressure. Keywords: Water, Judgment, Software, Pressure, Engineerin

Beam test performance of a prototype module with Short Strip ASICs for the CMS HL-LHC tracker upgrade

The Short Strip ASIC (SSA) is one of the four front-end chips designed for the upgrade of the CMS Outer Tracker for the High Luminosity LHC. Together with the Macro-Pixel ASIC (MPA) it will instrument modules containing a strip and a macro-pixel sensor stacked on top of each other. The SSA provides both full readout of the strip hit information when triggered, and, together with the MPA, correlated clusters called stubs from the two sensors for use by the CMS Level-1 (L1) trigger system. Results from the first prototype module consisting of a sensor and two SSA chips are presented. The prototype module has been characterized at the Fermilab Test Beam Facility using a 120 GeV proton beam