Assessment of the Biocompatibility and Biomechanical Characteristics of Experimental Nickel Titanium Wires

The aim of this study was to compare the mechanical and biological properties of an experimental NiTi archwire coated with nanocarbon tubes, a mechanically-treated NiTi archwire and an as-received NiTi archwire. To test this, NiTi wires from American Orthodontics (AO) with a cross-section of 0.019” x 0.025” were used for all the tests, except for the friction test where 0.017” x 0.025” wires were used. The three groups were compared for hardness, roughness, friction, yield strength, load deflection and modulus of elasticity, as well as biocompatibility. The first group was treated mechanically with the addition of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The second group was only treated mechanically without the addition of any material. The third group was the as-received group. Ten specimens were investigated for each group. The results for surface hardness using the ANOVA test showed a statistically significant difference between the groups (p-value=0.0097). The nanocarbon coated group was (343 HV), while the mechanically-treated and as-received groups were (328 HV). Also, the yield strength ANOVA test showed a statistically significant difference between the groups (p-value=0.0184). The nanocarbon coated group was (255 MPa), the mechanically-treated (327 MPa), and the as-received (338 MPa). On the other hand, the results for roughness, friction, corrosion, and modulus of elasticity showed no statistically significant difference between the three groups. The cytotoxicity results for the nanocarbon coated group showed no statistically significant difference when compared to the as-received wires, although it showed variability in the results, this high sample variance and standard deviation relative to the mean, requires further investigation. The mechanically-treated wires showed the highest cytotoxicity. Clinically, improving the strength and hardness of the NiTi archwires will produce a wire that is more durable and less likely to break, which happens frequently with smaller diameters. If proven to be sufficiently biocompatible, this could be a good improvement on the current available archwires

Appointing and Training Judges in Egypt and Comparative Systems

The topic of the paper is very important, as it comes up at a time when the Egyptians have come to a point that reforming Egypt’s justice system is a hopeless case. This is due to the outdated and inefficient way of thinking and performing in the judiciary. Thus the goal of this paper is to make an intellectual contribution to a sustainable reform program of the Egyptian judiciary and namely the systems of judicial appointment and judicial training using their roles as agents of progress and development. This aspiring research argues that the Higher Council of Judicial Entities and Bodies (hereinafter the Higher Council) is not necessarily threatening judicial independence but rather creating a balance between judicial independence and judicial accountability. However, some modifications must be made to its formation as a part of my proposals for reform. While the National Training Academy (hereinafter the NTA) is not appropriate nor ideal to train the members of the justice system because of the judicial leadership and ownership of the judicial training, thus, an independent body responsible for appointing and training judges shall be established and this will be displayed in my proposals for reform project at the end of this research paper

Behavioral determinants and their impacts on customers’ saving deposits in Islamic banks

The purpose of this paper is to determine the factors that affect Islamic ethical behavior of customers in Malaysian Islamic banking sector.A survey has been conducted by using questionnaire that was adopted and created.The data from 530 respondents were collected from customers of Islamic banks located in Malaysia.The study reveals that there were differences between age, marital status and income based on the independent sample t- test and one -way ANOVA analysis of the demographic factors while there was no difference for race, gender and educational level.The regression analysis indicates a significant positive relationship between religious obligation and reputation with the Islamic ethical behavior of Malaysian customers.Conversely, profit and investment shows insignificant effect on the Islamic ethical behavior of Malaysian customers. The paper contributes to the literature on Islamic Banking in South East Asia economy

The Accountants Ethics in Yemen

Ethics is important in any job, but it is extremely important in the accounting job. Over the years, researchers have performed numerous studies in the field of ethics in relation to the accounting profession. However, specifically in Yemen, there has been no ethical code of conduct for Yemeni accountants. This study presents the domain of Yemeni accountants' ethics. Data collected by using the questionnaire from 74 Yemeni accountants in trade companies in Sana'a city. And, this study use Interdependency Analysis to reveal the Domain of Ethical Code of Conduct for Yemeni Accountants. Analysis of literature suggested 18 accountants' ethics. The research findings found the most important components of Yemeni accountant's ethics are four components, i.e, two for Deliberative Ethics and two for Prescriptive Ethics. The components of Deliberative Ethics are: Deliberative on Protection of Clients, and Deliberative On Conflict Of Interest. In addition, the components of Prescriptive Ethics are: Prescriptive on Independency, and Prescriptive on Duty

The Accountant's Ethical Code of Conduct and Moral Reasoning from an Islamic Environment: Case in Yemen

An ethical code of conduct is developed to guide behaviors of members in or of organizations. Accountants, in this context, are not an exception. The availability of such ethical code of conduct is extremely important for both accountants and users of accounting information. However, currently in Yemen, there is no ethical code of conduct for Yemeni professional accountants. It is also equally important to know how Yemeni professional accountants perceive prescriptively and deliberatively on issues related to the ethical code of conduct. Hence, two phases of study were carried out to tap the issues. The first phase was sought to address the question of what constitutes the ethical code of conduct among Yemeni professional accountants. Data were collected from 386 users of accounting information in Yemen. The study employed interdependency analysis to reveal and confirm the domain of the accountants' ethical code of conduct. Results show that the ethical code of conduct consists of several ethical constructs. The second phase of the study was to know to what extent Yemeni professional accountants behave ethically at work. This is important because Islam emphasizes consistency between thought and action. Data were collected from 138 professional accountants in four main cities of Yemen i.e. Sana'a, Hadhramout, Taiz, and Aden. Results showed that Yemeni professional accountants exhibit higher level of moral reasoning beyond the conventional level. The findings of this study contribute to the body of knowledge by providing an Islamic perspective to the ethical issues which has similarities and differences vis-a-vis the Western perspective

Islamic Entrepreneurship in the Light of Maqasid Al-Shari’ah: A Critical Review

The objectives of entrepreneurship in Islam are guided by the Maqasid Al-Shariah. However, there is a mismatch between Islamic entrepreneurship objectives and Maqasid Al-Shariah based on available literatures, which have not been critically investigated. This paper presents a critical review of the literature within the Islamic entrepreneurship objectives and Maqasid Al-Shariah framework. The exploratory study adopting content analysis to achieve its aim found that the existing literature covered both the Din and Mu’amalah based objectives of Islamic entrepreneurship. However, there is dearth of literature that integrates the connection between objectives of Islamic entrepreneurship and Maqasid Al-Shari’ah. It is therefore suggested that researchers should conduct more researches to examine the integration of Maqasid Al-Shariah in Islamic entrepreneurship, particularly in respect to decision making in handling entrepreneurship issues

A Proposed Framework on the Relationship between Islamic Microfinance Related Factors and Women Entrepreneurs Business Performance in Nigeria

Microfinance plays a key role in poverty alleviation, employment generation, mitigating rural urban migration, utilization of local resources and raw materials and contributing to the gross domestic product (GDP) of Nigeria. Women, majority of who are poor and engaged in informal micro, small and medium scale businesses are mostly the target of microfinance institutions. However, women entrepreneurs find it difficult to have access to the products and services of the conventional banks due to their stringent lending requirement. The presence of Islamic banking which promotes the profit and loss sharing (PLS) concept increases the awareness among women entrepreneurs to alternative funding sources. Despite availability of financing options, women entrepreneurs are constrained by their reluctance to use interest based microfinance services. This paper aims to provide a proposed framework that examines the impact of Islamic investment and financing contracts (Murabaha financing and Mudharabah savings) and other microfinance related factors (training, social capital and self-esteem) on women entrepreneurs business performance. Religiosity is a new moderating variable within the framework that is hypothesized to enhance business performance of women entrepreneurs. The proposed framework will fill the gap in Islamic banking and finance studies since the area of Islamic microfinance and the moderating effect of religiosity has not been empirically investigated

A proposed framework on the relationship between Islamic microfinance related factors and women entrepreneurs business performance in Nigeria

Microfinance plays a key role in poverty alleviation, employment generation, mitigating rural urban migration, utilization of local resources and raw materials and contributing to the gross domestic product (GDP) of Nigeria. Women, majority of who are poor and engaged in informal/micro, small and medium scale businesses are mostly the target of microfinance institutions.However, women entrepreneurs find it difficult to have access to the products and services of the conventional banks due to their stringent lending requirement.The presence of Islamic banking which promotes the profit and loss sharing (PLS) concept increases the awareness among women entrepreneurs to alternative funding sources. Despite availability of financing options, women entrepreneurs are constrained by their reluctance to use interest based microfinance services.This paper aims to provide a proposed framework that examines the impact of Islamic investment and financing contracts (Murabaha financing and Mudharabah savings) and other microfinance related factors (training, social capital and self-esteem) on women entrepreneurs business performance.Religiosity is a new moderating variable within the framework that is hypothesized to enhance business performance of women entrepreneurs.The proposed framework will fill the gap in Islamic banking and finance studies since the area of Islamic microfinance and the moderating effect of religiosity has not been empirically investigated

Islamic entrepreneurship in the light of maqasid al-shari’ah: a critical review

The objectives of entrepreneurship in Islam are guided by the Maqasid Al-Shariah.However, there is a mismatch between Islamic entrepreneurship objectives and Maqasid Al-Shariah based on available literatures, which have not been critically investigated.This paper presents a critical review of the literature within the Islamic entrepreneurship objectives and Maqasid Al-Shariah framework.The exploratory study adopting content analysis to achieve its aim found that the existing literature covered both the Din and Mu’amalah based objectives of Islamic entrepreneurship.However, there is dearth of literature that integrates the connection between objectives of Islamic entrepreneurship and Maqasid Al-Shari’ah.It is therefore suggested that researchers should conduct more researches to examine the integration of Maqasid Al-Shariah in Islamic entrepreneurship, particularly in respect to decision making in handling entrepreneurship issues

Bridging the supply gap in Islamic finance education: current landscape and future marketability of talents / Rosylin Mohd Yusof, Selamah Maamor and Al-Hasan Al-Aidaros.

Consistent with the government’s effort to further promote Malaysia as the International Islamic Finance Education Hub, this article highlights the supply gap in Islamic finance education and identifies issues for future marketability of Islamic Finance Talents. Specifically, this article focuses the number, nature and nomenclature of programs offered by existing public and private universities in Malaysia and assesses whether the graduates meet the demand of the industry players. This study covers eleven (11) public universities and three (3) private institutions which offer MIF programs both at undergraduate and graduate levels. Based on the survey on existing programs and student enrolment in Muamalat and Islamic Finance (MIF) programs offered by these institutions, the findings reveal that there are 89 Islamic finance programs offered at the various Malaysian institutions. Out of these, 21 are PhD, 36 Masters, 27 Bachelors and 5 Diploma programs. The survey also found that programs with banking and finance focus are the majority constituting at least 37%. These are followed by Muamalat (Shariah and Law) focused programs to the tune of 25%. Others are Islamic economics (20%), Islamic Management (15%) and Islamic accounting (3%). The analysis was also done to critically re-define Islamic Finance education into five domains that is Muamalat (Shariah and Law), Islamic Finance, Islamic Economics, Islamic Accounting and Islamic management and abbreviated as MIF. The study further recommends that Ministry of Education and MQA need to facilitate the approval of new programs in Islamic accounting, Islamic economics and Islamic management. Universities that offer MIF programs should also diversify their programs based on the five domains. Hence, there is a dire need for policy ramifications to include a balance of students’ enrolments in all the five domains to achieve the government target of 54,000 Islamic Finance talents in 2020