Efficiency of the foreign exchange markets in South Asian Countries

This paper examines the weak form efficiency of the foreign exchange markets in seven SAARC countries using monthly return series for each of these markets over a period of 21 years (1985-2005). We applied a battery of unit root tests and variance ratio tests (individual and multiple) to see whether the return series (and also, the raw data) follow random walk process. Our results suggest that the increments of the return series are not serially correlated. Therefore, we conclude that foreign exchange markets in SAARC countries are weak form efficient.

Peran Lembaga Pemerdayaan Masyarakat Desa Sebagai Pelaksanaan Undang Undang Nomor 6 Tahun 2014 Dalam Persepektif Hukum Islam

FADLI DAUD ABDULLAH. NIM: 1808202065. “PERAN LEMBAGA PEMBERDAYAAN MASYARAKAT SEBAGAI PELAKSANAAN UNDANGUNDANG NOMOR 6 TAHUN 2014 DALAM PERSPEKTIF HUKUM ISLAM (Studi Kasus pada Desa Nanggerangjaya Kecamatan Mandirancan Kabupaten Kuningan)”, 2021. Untuk mengetahui peran dan fungsi Lembaga Pemberdayaan Masyarakat Desa (LPMD) maka kebijakannya adalah Undang-Undang Nomor 6 Tahun 2014 tentang desa, yaitu pada pasal 94. Secara garis besar menegaskan bahwa LPMD bertugas membantu Kepala Desa dalam menyerap aspirasi masyarakat terkait perencanaan pembangunan desa secara partisipatif dan menggerakan masyarakat dalam program pemberdayaan dengan swadaya gotong royong. LPMD dibentuk sebagai mitra Pemerintah Desa dalam merencanakan dan melaksanakan pembangunan dan melakukan program pemberdayaan kepada masyarakat. Tetapi, ditemukan gejala seperti masyarakat desa yang tidak mengetahui apa fungsi jelas dari LPMD, rendahnya tingkat partisipasi gotong royong masyarakat, tidak terlihat upaya untuk menyatukan persepsi antar yang satu dengan yang lain seolah kegiatan pembangunan dan pemberdayaan merupakan kegiatan sepihak oleh Pemerintah Desa. Maka dari itu, penulis ingin meneliti permasalah ini lebih lanjut dengan rumusan masalah bagaimana peran LPMD sebagai pelaksanaan Undang-Undang Nomor 6 Tahun 2014 dalam perspektif Hukum Islam. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian deskriptif kualitatif yakni mendefinisikan fenomena-fenomena dari sudut atau perspektif informan. Data dikumpulkan dengan observasi, wawancara dan dokumentasi. Teknik analisa data yang digunakan adalah pengumpulan data, reduksi data, penyajian data dan penarikan kesimpulan, untuk mengukur keabsahan data dilakukan pendekatan triangulasi. Dari hasil penelitian dapat diketahui bahwa LPMD Nanggerangjaya berperan cukup baik dilihat dari Indikator pembahasan yaitu, peran LPMD sebagai fasilitator, mediator, motivator dan dinamisator bagi pembangunan wilayah di desa merujuk pada landasan Hukum LPMD, meski ada beberapa program yang belum maksimal dengan baik seperti program pemberdayaan masyarakat yang bersifat keberlanjutan, namun artinya LPMD mempunyai peran yang sangat penting bagi Pemerintah Desa dan masyarakat. Adapun ditinjau dari perspektif Hukum Islam, sudah merujuk pada prinsip-prinsip Hukum Islam dan didasarkan pada Q.S An-nisa ayat 59. Ayat tersebut memerintahkan kaum mukminin agar mentaati putusan Hukum dari siapapun yang berwewenang menetapkan hukum, sebagaimana telah ditetapkannya Undang-Undang Nomor 6 Tahun 2014 Tentang Desa untuk menjadi sumber hukum LPMD dalam menjalankan peran dan fungsinya. Dari Analisis SWOT yang dihasilkan yaitu LPMD Nanggerangjaya memiliki peluang yang besar dengan meminimalkan ancaman dan memaksimalkan kekuatan dengan meminimalkan kelemahan. Kata Kunci: LPMD, Pemberdayaan Masyarakat, dan Hukum Islam

Pelaksanaan Bimbingan Kerohanian Semasa Operasi Terhadap Anggota Tentera Darat Malaysia (TDM)

Semangat juang bagi angkatan tentera merupakan elemen terpenting dalam menentukan sebuah ketumbukan itu dapat bertahanan menyerang atau diserang. Semangat juang diperolehi dan disuburkan melalui amalan kerohanian terdiri dari kepercayaan terhadap Ilahi, ibadah yang dituntut dan nilai-nilai murni dari akhlak dan ketenteraan. Bimbingan kerohanian dalam Angkatan Tentera Malaysia (ATM) dipertanggungjawabkan kepada Kor Agama Angkatan Tentera (KAGAT). Namun bukanlah mudah untuk menyuburkan semangat yang penting ini jika pendidikan agama dan kerohanian tidak dilaksanakan secara berterusan dan bersistematik. Oleh kerana itu, kajian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pelaksanaan bimbingan kerohanian semasa operasi yang dilaksanakan terhadap anggota TDM melalui manual Doktrin KAGAT Semasa Perang yang diterbitkan pada tahun 2009 di bawah Seksyen 5. Reka bentuk kajian ini adalah kuantitatif yang berbentuk kajian tinjauan. Data dikumpulkan menerusi borang soal selidik dan dianalisis menggunakan perisian komputer Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) Version 23 berdasarkan kekerapan, peratus dan min. Dapatan kajian menunjukkan bahawa pelaksanaan dalam aktiviti bimbingan aspek kerohanian semasa operasi terhadap anggota TDM secara keseluruhannya masih di tahap sederhana. Walau bagaimanapun, aktiviti ini tetap dan terus dilaksana pada setiap kali operasi TDM diadakan. Manual Doktrin KAGAT Semasa Perang membuktikan anggota KAGAT telah mula menumpukan perhatian terhadap latihan khususnya aspek penugasan operasi dalam mencapai tahap sempurna untuk membimbing kerohanian anggota tentera sekaligus membantu TDM menggalas tanggungjawab.Semangat juang bagi angkatan tentera merupakan elemen terpenting dalam menentukan sebuah ketumbukan itu dapat bertahanan menyerang atau diserang. Semangat juang diperolehi dan disuburkan melalui amalan kerohanian terdiri dari kepercayaan terhadap Ilahi, ibadah yang dituntut dan nilai-nilai murni dari akhlak dan ketenteraan. Bimbingan kerohanian dalam Angkatan Tentera Malaysia (ATM) dipertanggungjawabkan kepada Kor Agama Angkatan Tentera (KAGAT). Namun bukanlah mudah untuk menyuburkan semangat yang penting ini jika pendidikan agama dan kerohanian tidak dilaksanakan secara berterusan dan bersistematik. Oleh kerana itu, kajian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pelaksanaan bimbingan kerohanian semasa operasi yang dilaksanakan terhadap anggota TDM melalui manual Doktrin KAGAT Semasa Perang yang diterbitkan pada tahun 2009 di bawah Seksyen 5. Reka bentuk kajian ini adalah kuantitatif yang berbentuk kajian tinjauan. Data dikumpulkan menerusi borang soal selidik dan dianalisis menggunakan perisian komputer Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) Version 23 berdasarkan kekerapan, peratus dan min. Dapatan kajian menunjukkan bahawa pelaksanaan dalam aktiviti bimbingan aspek kerohanian semasa operasi terhadap anggota TDM secara keseluruhannya masih di tahap sederhana. Walau bagaimanapun, aktiviti ini tetap dan terus dilaksana pada setiap kali operasi TDM diadakan. Manual Doktrin KAGAT Semasa Perang membuktikan anggota KAGAT telah mula menumpukan perhatian terhadap latihan khususnya aspek penugasan operasi dalam mencapai tahap sempurna untuk membimbing kerohanian anggota tentera sekaligus membantu TDM menggalas tanggungjawab

Mortality Predictors in Patients with Infective Endocarditis Undergoing Surgery

Background: Infective endocarditis (IE) is considered a series disorder with high in-hospital mortality, so early detection and therapy can improve outcomes. Diagnosis relies upon consistent history and manifestations like persistent bacteremia, fungemia or active valvulitis. Surgical treatment in infective endocarditis is considered as a part of management rather than a consequence of medical treatment failure.Objectives: To assess the risk factors influencing the early outcome of surgical intervention in patients with IE. Patients and methods: This prospective cohort study was conducted on sixty patients diagnosed with infective endocarditis and underwent cardiac surgery. We tested preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative factors that may act as prospective predictors of mortality.Results: Rheumatic heart was found to be the most common underlying fundamental issue among most of the cases. Mitral valve regurgitation was the frequent lesion found (61.7%). The mean EuroScore II in non-survivor group was 25.69 ± 8.13. The hospital mortality was 21.7% (13 patient), while the 6-month mortality was 12.8% (6 patients). Congestive heart failure, embolization, and periannular extension of infection are the most significant predictors of hospital mortality and 6 month mortality also.Conclusion: Surgery for IE keeps on being challenging. EuroScore II was found to have a very good capability to anticipate mortality in IE surgery. Also favorable outcomes could be acquired with valve repair techniques even in cases of IE

Strength and Durability of Sustainable Self-Consolidating Concrete with High Levels of Supplementary Cementitious Materials

Self-consolidating concrete (SCC) has been used extensively in the construction industry because of its advanced characteristics of a highly flowable mixture and the ability to be consolidated under its own weight. One of the main challenges is the high content of OPC used in the production process. This research focuses on developing sustainable, high-strength self-consolidating concrete (SCC) by incorporating high levels of supplementary cementitious materials. The overarching purpose of this study is to replace OPC partially by up to 71% by using fly ash, GGBS, and microsilica to produce high-strength and durable SCC. Two groups of mixtures were designed to replace OPC. The first group contained 14%, 23.4%, and 32.77% fly ash and 6.4% microsilica. The second group contained 32.77%, 46.81%, and 65.5% GGBS and 6.4% microsilica. The fresh properties were investigated using the slump, V-funnel, L-box, and J-ring tests. The hardened properties were assessed using a compressive strength test, while water permeability, water absorption, and rapid chloride penetration tests were used to evaluate the durability. The innovation of this experimental work was introducing SCC with an unconventional mixture that can achieve highly durable and high-strength concrete. The results showed the feasibility of SCC by incorporating high volumes of fly ash and GGBS without compromising compressive strength and durability

Past and projected trends of body mass index and weight status in South Australia:2003 to 2019

OBJECTIVE: Functional data analysis (FDA) is a forecasting approach that, to date, has not been applied to obesity, and that may provide more accurate forecasting analysis to manage uncertainty in public health. This paper uses FDA to provide projections of Body Mass Index (BMI), overweight and obesity in an Australian population through to 2019.  METHODS: Data from the South Australian Monitoring and Surveillance System (January 2003 to December 2012, n=51,618 adults) were collected via telephone interview survey. FDA was conducted in four steps: 1) age-gender specific BMIs for each year were smoothed using a weighted regression; 2) the functional principal components decomposition was applied to estimate the basis functions; 3) an exponential smoothing state space model was used for forecasting the coefficient series; and 4) forecast coefficients were combined with the basis function.  RESULTS: The forecast models suggest that between 2012 and 2019 average BMI will increase from 27.2 kg/m(2) to 28.0 kg/m(2) in males and 26.4 kg/m(2) to 27.6 kg/m(2) in females. The prevalence of obesity is forecast to increase by 6-7 percentage points by 2019 (to 28.7% in males and 29.2% in females).  CONCLUSIONS: Projections identify age-gender groups at greatest risk of obesity over time. The novel approach will be useful to facilitate more accurate planning and policy development

Systematic review of MCDM approach applied to the medical case studies of COVID-19: trends, bibliographic analysis, challenges, motivations, recommendations, and future directions

When COVID-19 spread in China in December 2019, thousands of studies have focused on this pandemic. Each presents a unique perspective that reflects the pandemic’s main scientific disciplines. For example, social scientists are concerned with reducing the psychological impact on the human mental state especially during lockdown periods. Computer scientists focus on establishing fast and accurate computerized tools to assist in diagnosing, preventing, and recovering from the disease. Medical scientists and doctors, or the frontliners, are the main heroes who received, treated, and worked with the millions of cases at the expense of their own health. Some of them have continued to work even at the expense of their lives. All these studies enforce the multidisciplinary work where scientists from different academic disciplines (social, environmental, technological, etc.) join forces to produce research for beneficial outcomes during the crisis. One of the many branches is computer science along with its various technologies, including artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, big data, decision support systems (DSS), and many more. Among the most notable DSS utilization is those related to multicriterion decision making (MCDM), which is applied in various applications and across many contexts, including business, social, technological and medical. Owing to its importance in developing proper decision regimens and prevention strategies with precise judgment, it is deemed a noteworthy topic of extensive exploration, especially in the context of COVID-19-related medical applications. The present study is a comprehensive review of COVID-19-related medical case studies with MCDM using a systematic review protocol. PRISMA methodology is utilized to obtain a final set of (n = 35) articles from four major scientific databases (ScienceDirect, IEEE Xplore, Scopus, and Web of Science). The final set of articles is categorized into taxonomy comprising five groups: (1) diagnosis (n = 6), (2) safety (n = 11), (3) hospital (n = 8), (4) treatment (n = 4), and (5) review (n = 3). A bibliographic analysis is also presented on the basis of annual scientific production, country scientific production, co- occurrence, and co-authorship. A comprehensive discussion is also presented to discuss the main challenges, motivations, and recommendations in using MCDM research in COVID-19-related medial case studies. Lastly, we identify critical research gaps with their corresponding solutions and detailed methodologies to serve as a guide for future directions. In conclusion, MCDM can be utilized in the medical field effectively to optimize the resources and make the best choices particularly during pandemics and natural disasters

Mortality from gastrointestinal congenital anomalies at 264 hospitals in 74 low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries: a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study

Summary Background Congenital anomalies are the fifth leading cause of mortality in children younger than 5 years globally. Many gastrointestinal congenital anomalies are fatal without timely access to neonatal surgical care, but few studies have been done on these conditions in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared outcomes of the seven most common gastrointestinal congenital anomalies in low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries globally, and identified factors associated with mortality. Methods We did a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of patients younger than 16 years, presenting to hospital for the first time with oesophageal atresia, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, intestinal atresia, gastroschisis, exomphalos, anorectal malformation, and Hirschsprung’s disease. Recruitment was of consecutive patients for a minimum of 1 month between October, 2018, and April, 2019. We collected data on patient demographics, clinical status, interventions, and outcomes using the REDCap platform. Patients were followed up for 30 days after primary intervention, or 30 days after admission if they did not receive an intervention. The primary outcome was all-cause, in-hospital mortality for all conditions combined and each condition individually, stratified by country income status. We did a complete case analysis. Findings We included 3849 patients with 3975 study conditions (560 with oesophageal atresia, 448 with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, 681 with intestinal atresia, 453 with gastroschisis, 325 with exomphalos, 991 with anorectal malformation, and 517 with Hirschsprung’s disease) from 264 hospitals (89 in high-income countries, 166 in middleincome countries, and nine in low-income countries) in 74 countries. Of the 3849 patients, 2231 (58·0%) were male. Median gestational age at birth was 38 weeks (IQR 36–39) and median bodyweight at presentation was 2·8 kg (2·3–3·3). Mortality among all patients was 37 (39·8%) of 93 in low-income countries, 583 (20·4%) of 2860 in middle-income countries, and 50 (5·6%) of 896 in high-income countries (p<0·0001 between all country income groups). Gastroschisis had the greatest difference in mortality between country income strata (nine [90·0%] of ten in lowincome countries, 97 [31·9%] of 304 in middle-income countries, and two [1·4%] of 139 in high-income countries; p≤0·0001 between all country income groups). Factors significantly associated with higher mortality for all patients combined included country income status (low-income vs high-income countries, risk ratio 2·78 [95% CI 1·88–4·11], p<0·0001; middle-income vs high-income countries, 2·11 [1·59–2·79], p<0·0001), sepsis at presentation (1·20 [1·04–1·40], p=0·016), higher American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score at primary intervention (ASA 4–5 vs ASA 1–2, 1·82 [1·40–2·35], p<0·0001; ASA 3 vs ASA 1–2, 1·58, [1·30–1·92], p<0·0001]), surgical safety checklist not used (1·39 [1·02–1·90], p=0·035), and ventilation or parenteral nutrition unavailable when needed (ventilation 1·96, [1·41–2·71], p=0·0001; parenteral nutrition 1·35, [1·05–1·74], p=0·018). Administration of parenteral nutrition (0·61, [0·47–0·79], p=0·0002) and use of a peripherally inserted central catheter (0·65 [0·50–0·86], p=0·0024) or percutaneous central line (0·69 [0·48–1·00], p=0·049) were associated with lower mortality. Interpretation Unacceptable differences in mortality exist for gastrointestinal congenital anomalies between lowincome, middle-income, and high-income countries. Improving access to quality neonatal surgical care in LMICs will be vital to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 of ending preventable deaths in neonates and children younger than 5 years by 2030

Tagging Study of Green Turtles (Chelonia mydas) on the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia

Organized by Graduate School of Informatics, Kyoto University ; JSPS Bangkok Liaison Office ; Japanese Society of Bio-logging Science ; Informatics Research Center for Development of Knowledge Society InfrastructureDecember 13-14, 2005, Siam City Hotel, Bangkok, ThailandA tagging program of green turtle has been conducted intensively in Peninsular Malaysia since in 1993 especially at two rookeries namely Mak Kepit, Redang Island in Terengganu and Chendor in Pahang. The objectives is to determine their nesting frequency at two major rookeries Mak Kepit and Chendor on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia. The results showed that, out of 313 green turtles that had been tagged at Mak Kepit from 1993 to 2000 only 78 individuals had remigrated. This indicates that only 25% of green turtles had returned back for nesting at Mak Kepit rookery. At Chendor, a total of 344 of green turtles were tagged from 1993 to 2000 and only 73 individuals were recovered. It showed that only 21% remigrated to the same location for nesting. Green turtles took a period of approximately 2 years to return back for breeding at Mak Kepit, whereas they started to return back within 3 years at Chendor. At Mak Kepit 22% of green turtles had nested more than 5 times and 44% at Chendor rookery