Social Culture Analysis to Compare the Performance of Islamic Bank in Muslim-Majority Countries

Introduction/Main Objectives: The implementation of Islamic teachings in economic activities cannot be separated from the socio-cultural influence of the local community.  Thus, there are possible differences in the expression of Islamic teachings in the economic field, especially the practice of Islamic banks in the Countries of the Middle East region with Islamic banks in countries in the Southeast Asian region. Background Problems: This difference in practice can be caused by differences in the religious behavior of bankers and customers in terms of dimensions of knowledge, passion, practice and religious rituals that are influenced by the socio-cultural of each region so that it has an impact on the performance of each Islamic bank. Novelty: No comparative research on the performance of Islamic banks based on socio-cultural analysis has been found. Research Methods: this study was analyzed the performance of Islamic banks in the Middle East and Southeast Asia regions in 2015-2020 and analyze the relevance between banking performance and socio-culture in both regional groups. The research method used is a mixed quantitative and qualitative research method (Mix Method). Sampling techniques use purposive sampling. The sample in this study was the first Islamic banks established in those countries with the criterion that these banks present annual financial statements that have been audited by  independent auditors. The analysis method uses quantitative methods: descriptive statistics, normality test, and Mann-Whitney U test as well as qualitative methods, namely analysis content. Finding/Results: Between Islamic banks in the Middle East and Southeast Asian countries in 2015-2020 there are differences in profitability performance, capital ratios, and liquidity, there is no difference in credit efficiency and effectiveness performance, there is relevance between socio-cultural differences and profitability performance,  capital ratios, and liquidity between Islamic banks in the Countries of the Middle East and Southeast Asia regions, and there is no relevance between socio-cultural differences and the performance of credit efficiency and effectiveness between Islamic banks in the countries of the Middle East and Southeast Asia regions

Optimisation of expressed RNA interference effecters for the inhibition of hepatitis B virus ereplication

PhD, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, 2009Chronic infection with the hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a major risk factor for cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, which is the sixth most common cancer worldwide. Available treatment for chronic HBV infection has limited efficacy in preventing associated complications. The compact and multifunctional nature of the viral genome limits its mutability making HBV an ideal candidate for therapy based on nucleic acid hybridisation. The potent and specific gene silencing that can be achieved with RNA interference (RNAi) has fueled interest in exploiting this pathway as a therapeutic modality. Synthetic and expressed RNA sequences have been used to activate RNAi. These engineered sequences mimic natural substrates of the RNAi pathway, which allows them to enter and reprogramme the pathway to effect silencing of intended targets. Tradionally expressed RNAi activators have been transcribed as short hairpin RNA (shRNA) sequences from RNA polymerase III (Pol III) promoters. These shRNA mimic precursor microRNA (pre-miRNA) and consequently enter the RNAi pathway at a relatively late stage. Overexpression of shRNA sequences from Pol III promoters, specifically the U6 promoter, has been associated with toxic side effects and has raised concerns about the use of expressed RNAi activators. Another concern of developing therapeutic RNAi expression cassettes is the emergence of HBV mutants that are resistant to silencing by a single expressed RNAi effecter. These points have highlighted the need for the development expressed RNAi activators that are effective at low concentrations and capable of combinatorial silencing. To address these issues the aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of anti HBV effecter sequences that mimic an early substrate (viz. primary miRNA or pri-miRNA) of the RNAi pathway. Pri-miRNA expression is typically under the transcriptional control of Pol II promoters. Consequently RNAi activators that Abstract - xi - mimic pri-miRNA, so-called pri-miR shuttles, may be expressed from Pol II promoters. Initially a panel of shRNA expression cassettes driven by a Pol III promoter was constructed and silencing of HBV replication assessed. Pri-miR shuttles were then designed by incorporating guide sequences of the most effective anti HBV U6 shRNA into naturally occurring pri-miR-122 and pri-miR-31. Potent inhibition of viral replication was observed with both Pol III and Pol II-driven pri-miR shuttle expression cassettes in vitro and in vivo. Subsequently liver-specific pri-miR-122 and multimeric pri-miR-31 shuttle expression cassettes were created. Pri-miR-122 shuttle sequences expressed from the alpha-1 antitrypsin promoter and HBV basic core promoter exhibited the best liver-specific silencing. Polycistronic pri-miR-31 shuttle sequences were shown to produce multiple RNAi activators capable of silencing multiple target sequences. Silencing by the pri-miR shuttle sequences was independent of toxic effects that arise from induction of the interferon response or saturation of the endogenous miRNA pathway. Pri-miR shuttles clearly represent an improved option for the use of expressed shRNA and brings therapeutic RNAi technology a step closer to clinical application

Inhibiting Hepatitus B virus replication with short hairpin RNA sequences that target the viral X open reading frame

Student Number : 9903082V - MSc (Med) dissertation - Faculty of Health SciencesChronic infection with the hepatitis B virus (HBV) is endemic to sub-Saharan Africa and south-east Asia where it is a major risk factor for the development of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Currently available therapy is only effective in a small subset of chronic carriers. The development of novel treatment modalities for the management of HBV therefore remains an important global medical objective. Sequence plasticity of the HBV genome is limited by its small size and the overlapping nature of its open reading frames (ORFs). These features make HBV an ideal target for therapy based on nucleic acid hybridization. The use of ribozymes (RNA enzymes) and antisense molecules to inhibit gene expression is well documented. The recent discovery of RNA interference (RNAi) has added to the arsenal of therapy based on nucleic acid hybridization. RNAi is the process whereby short RNA duplexes (called short interfering RNA or siRNA) mediate the sequence-specific post-transcriptional silencing of genes homologous in sequence to the siRNA. siRNA function by guiding a protein complex (RNA Induced Silencing Complex or RISC) to target mRNA for degradation or translational repression. The protein X ORF (HBx ORF) is a conserved region of the HBV genome and is common to all viral transcripts. HBx is required for infection by the virus and plays an important role in the establishment of chronic infections in vivo as well as in the development of HCC. RNAi targeted against the HBx ORF may therefore prove useful as treatment of chronic HBV infection. Plasmid based expression cassettes capable of endogenously generating short hairpin RNA (shRNA) targeted to the HBx ORF were constructed. The shRNA function as substrates for the RNAi machinery and are processed into siRNA. The ability of the expression cassettes to knockdown markers of HBV gene expression was tested in a human hepatoma cell line. A panel of 10 U6 promoter-driven shRNA expression vectors was generated. The U6 promoter (an RNA polymerase III promoter) is normally involved in the transcription of small nuclear RNA and as such is ideal for the generation of shRNA of precisely defined length. Three cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter-driven shRNA expression cassettes incorporating ribozymes that produce defined hairpin sequences were also generated. The CMV promoter (an RNA polymerase II) promoter is involved in the transcription of large messenger RNA. Two hammerhead ribozymes lying 5’ and 3’ of the shRNA encoding sequence were incorporated into the cassette. Cis-cleavage by the ribozymes releases a shRNA of defined length thereby overcoming the limitations imposed by extraneous sequences from CMV promoter-driven transcription. U6 promoter-driven shRNA expression vectors efficiently knocked down markers of HBV replication in liver cells. The CMV promoter-driven expression vectors were incapable of inhibiting HBV gene expression; however shRNA generated in vitro from these vectors mediated efficient knockdown of HBV replication. shRNA-mediated inhibition of gene expression therefore holds promise as a novel treatment strategy for the management of HBV and other mobile genetic elements

Akuntabilitas Pengelolaan Alokasi Dana Desa (ADD) Di desa luhu kecamatan telaga kabupaten gorontalo

This study intends to identify the Village Fund Allocation Management in Luhu Village, Telaga District, Gorontalo District. This research was conducted at the Luhu Village Office. The research method used is a descriptive study technique with a qualitative approach in which descriptive research describes the conditions and atmosphere of incidents in the field in a systematic and careful way. The research results prove that the results obtained are tied to the management of village fund allocations in Luhu Village, Telaga District, namely programming Village Fund Allocations, implementation of Village Fund Allocations, and accountability information in accordance with applicable determinations and listed villages that are fast both in administration or stipulations and speed on document collection

LEARNING TRANSFORMATION: TEACHERS AND THE DYNAMICS OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)

The aim of this research is to reveal and analyze aboutthe future of teachers with Artificial Intelligence (AI), harmony between teachers and Artificial Intelligence (AI) and teacher competence in dealing with Artificial Intelligence (AI). This research method is qualitative research with a library research approach. The data source in this article is research results in the form of journal articles. The research results show that the presence of artificial intelligence (AI) in education brings challenges and opportunities for the future of teachers. Even though AI can replace some routine tasks in learning, the teacher's role remains crucial in guiding, motivating and developing students holistically. Teachers in the future must be able to build an atmosphere that meets the psychological needs of students, including the need for competence, autonomy and involvement in groups. The introduction of artificial intelligence brings about a significant change in the educational paradigm, where personalization of learning becomes more possible and efficient. Even though there is a paradigm shift from a one-size-fits-all model to responsive adaptation, the teacher's role remains central in designing targeted learning strategies. The success of teachers in the future depends not only on mastery of technology, but also on the ability to guide, motivate and shape students' character. Teachers are also faced with the task of facing the Industry 4.0 revolution, requiring a deep understanding of new concepts such as artificial intelligence, IoT and big data. Efforts to increase teacher competency must involve selective recruitment, bottom-up competency improvement, and the application of technology in learning, such as blended learning. Even though technology plays an important role, teachers cannot be replaced because their role as character builders and facilitators of social interaction remains irreplaceable. Therefore, continuing to develop teacher competence is the key to overcoming educational challenges in the era of artificial intelligence

Improved antiviral efficacy using TALEN-mediated homology directed recombination to introduce artificial primary miRNAs into DNA of hepatitis B virus

Chronic infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) remains an important global health problem. Currently licensed therapies have modest curative efficacy, which is as a result of their transient effects and limited action on the viral replication intermediate comprising covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA). Gene editing with artificial HBV-specific endonucleases and use of artificial activators of the RNA interference pathway have shown anti-HBV therapeutic promise. Although results from these gene therapies are encouraging, maximizing durable antiviral effects is important. To address this goal, a strategy that entails combining gene editing with homology-directed DNA recombination (HDR), to introduce HBV-silencing artificial primary microRNAs (pri-miRs) into HBV DNA targets, is reported here. Previously described transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs) that target the core and surface sequences of HBV were used to introduce double stranded breaks in the viral DNA. Simultaneous administration of donor sequences encoding artificial promoterless anti-HBV pri-miRs, with flanking arms that were homologous to sequences adjoining the TALENs' targets, augmented antiviral efficacy. Analysis showed targeted integration and the length of the flanking homologous arms of donor DNA had a minimal effect on antiviral efficiency. These results support the notion that gene editing and silencing may be combined to effect improved inhibition of HBV gene expression.The South African Medical Research Council, Poliomyelitis Research Foundation, Johnson & Johnson Innovation, Claude Leon Foundation and South African National Research Foundation (81768, 81692, 68339, 85981 & 77954).http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ybbrc2017-09-30hb2016Haematolog

Prediction of learning disorder: a-systematic review

Learning Disorder refers to a number of disorder which may influence the understanding or use of verbal or nonverbal information. The most well-known types of learning disorder involve an issue with reading, writing, listening, and speaking. When we talk about learning disorder, most people only focusing on social development plan. Therefore, in this study, a systematic review was performed to identify, assess and aggregate on the prediction methods used for a predict learning disorder. The main objective of this paper is to, identify the most common prediction methods for learning disorder, in terms of accuracy by using the systematic review technique. From the main objective, we can define the research questions such as, which is the most common and the most accurate prediction methods used for learning disorder. In conclusion, the most common prediction methods for learning disorder which is Decision Tree and Support Vector Machine. For accuracy, Decision Tree, Linear Discriminant Analysis and K-Nearest Neighbor methods have the highest prediction accuracy for a learning disorder. From these findings, this paper can guide others to predict learning disorder by using the most common methods to get the best result in term of accuracy

LEARN: A multi-centre, cross-sectional evaluation of Urology teaching in UK medical schools

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the status of UK undergraduate urology teaching against the British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS) Undergraduate Syllabus for Urology. Secondary objectives included evaluating the type and quantity of teaching provided, the reported performance rate of General Medical Council (GMC)-mandated urological procedures, and the proportion of undergraduates considering urology as a career. MATERIALS AND METHODS: LEARN was a national multicentre cross-sectional study. Year 2 to Year 5 medical students and FY1 doctors were invited to complete a survey between 3rd October and 20th December 2020, retrospectively assessing the urology teaching received to date. Results are reported according to the Checklist for Reporting Results of Internet E-Surveys (CHERRIES). RESULTS: 7,063/8,346 (84.6%) responses from all 39 UK medical schools were included; 1,127/7,063 (16.0%) were from Foundation Year (FY) 1 doctors, who reported that the most frequently taught topics in undergraduate training were on urinary tract infection (96.5%), acute kidney injury (95.9%) and haematuria (94.4%). The most infrequently taught topics were male urinary incontinence (59.4%), male infertility (52.4%) and erectile dysfunction (43.8%). Male and female catheterisation on patients as undergraduates was performed by 92.1% and 73.0% of FY1 doctors respectively, and 16.9% had considered a career in urology. Theory based teaching was mainly prevalent in the early years of medical school, with clinical skills teaching, and clinical placements in the later years of medical school. 20.1% of FY1 doctors reported no undergraduate clinical attachment in urology. CONCLUSION: LEARN is the largest ever evaluation of undergraduate urology teaching. In the UK, teaching seemed satisfactory as evaluated by the BAUS undergraduate syllabus. However, many students report having no clinical attachments in Urology and some newly qualified doctors report never having inserted a catheter, which is a GMC mandated requirement. We recommend a greater emphasis on undergraduate clinical exposure to urology and stricter adherence to GMC mandated procedures