Customer Usage Behaviour of Fintech Products In Sultanate Of Oman

Purpose: The objective of this research paper is to analyze the constructs behind the FinTech usage behavior and which factors contribute to the new financial technologies and to what extent demographic profiles affect FinTech adoption in Oman and analyze the factors that contribute to new business models of financial institutions from the adoption of convergent technologies in FinTech. Design/methodology/approach: This paper provides a comprehensive literature review focused on scholarly and practitioner experiences with FinTech practices in an Omani institutional environment. A total of 250 questionnaires were collected in Oman. The study was carried out using descriptive statistics and regression analysis. Findings: There is a positive and significant relationship between all the variables – Performance Expectancy, Effort Expectancy, Social Influence, Facilitating Conditions, Hedonic Motivation, Habit, Perceived risk, and Trust have a positive and significant relationship with Behavioural Intention to adopt FinTech. Social Influence posited the strongest influence on the customers in the form of societal pressures to adopt change, followed by Effort Expectancy wherein there is no need for the financial knowledge of the process of the new system towards carrying out banking transactions. Research limitations/implications: It was recommended that the finding of the study should be introduced so that the stakeholders of FinTech products can enrich the consumer intention in adopting FinTech. Social Implications: The study helps in making proper decision-making towards ease of banking transactions. The study also will help the retail managers in to improve the process so that the customer accepts such financial technologies.  Originality / Value: This paper is the first study of its kind to report the status of FinTech adoption in Oman

Manajemen Asuhan Kebidanan Intranatal Berkelanjutan Sampai Akhir Masa Nifas (Literatur Review)

Persalinan dan Nifas merupakan salah satu masalah kesehatan masyarakat di Indonesia dimana angka kematian ibu bersalin dan ibu nifas yang cukup tinggi. Distribusi penyebab kematian ibu di provinsi Sulawesi Selatan berdasarkan tahun 2014 yaitu perdarahan sebanyak 44 kasus (31,88%), hipertensi dalam kehamilan sebanyak 55 kasus (39,85%), infeksi sebanyak 3 kasus (2,17%), gangguan sistem peredaran darah (jantung, stroke, dll) sebanyak 2 kasus (1,44%) dan penyebab lain sebanyak 34 kasus (24,63%), penyebab lain tersebut antara lain penyakit jantung, ginjal, retensio urine, stroma, gangguan pernapasan dan penyakit bawaan lainnya pada ibu hamil. Metode yang digunakan deskriptif dari berbagai macam reverensi yaitu jurnal penelitian dan buku. Tugas akhir ini bersumber dari buku dan jurnal yaitu 5 tahun terakhir antara tahun 2021-2017. Jumlah literatur yang digunakan yaitu 43 literatur yang terdiri dari buku dan jurnal. Penulisan literatur review dibuat dalam bentuk matriks mulai dari langkah 1 sampai langkah VII sesuai dengan 7 langkah varney kemudian disimpulkan serta dilakukan perbandingan dari hasil penelitian satu dengan penelitian yang lain. Asuhan yang diberikan dengan kasus manajemen asuhan kebidanan intranatal berkelanjutan sampai akhir masa nifas sesuai dengan literatur review yang didapatkan yaitu penatalaksanaan asuhan persalinan normal (APN) mulai dari kala 1 sampai kala 1V dan penatalaksanaan asuhan pada masa nifas dengan melakukan perawatan dan pemantauan masa nifas serta melakukan antisipasi dan tindakan segera jika terjadi komplikasi pada persalinan dan masa nifas. Kesimpulan dari studi kasus literatur review dengan manajemen asuhan 7 langkah varney yaitu dari beberapa literatur review didapatkan pengertian persalinan dan masa nifas, tanda dan gejala persalinan dan masa nifas, tahapan persalinan dan masa nifas, faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi persalinan dan masa nifas serta komplikasi yang dapat muncul pada persalinan dan masa nifas serta cara mengatasinya

Barriers to Omanisation: Analysis and Policy Recommendations

Rapid economic development in Oman and other Gulf States has attracted foreign workers who now constitute 87% of the workforce in the Omani private sector. Unemployment rates among Omanis are now a serious socioeconomic problem that impacts the stability of Omani society and which has compelled the government to introduce a policy of job-localisation. However, recent statistics revealed that only about 14.6% of jobs have been omanised (Ministry of Manpower, 2014) indicating limited policy success. This study examines the challenges to the implementation and success of Omanisation in the private sector by exploring the views of officials and managers and, importantly, the often neglected views of employees. It employs a theoretical framework based on three aspects of capital theory: human capital elements, that is, education, T&D, skills, and experience; social capital factors, such as gender inequality, Wasta/nepotism and trust; and organisational capital variables, such as organisational culture, English fluency and HRM policies. A total of 496 questionnaires were completed by employees in three sectors; banking, tourism and auto retailing. Statistical analysis showed that the greatest differences emerged in the areas of gender inequality, training and development and working conditions. Overall, women employees, unmarried employees, lower-income employees, junior employees with little in-company training, and employees with lower educational levels perceived the highest barriers. More specifically, the level of in-company training was the most influential factor showing differences in twelve out of the fourteen human, social and organisational factors included in this study as barriers to the policy. The findings replicate previous research on job-localisation in the Gulf States regarding the impact of the private sector’s stereotypical perceptions of local workers concerning lack of trust in Omanis and views that they are less productive. However, this study contradicts most previous studies as it found no evidence that the educational system or English language skills were barriers to the employment of locals. This reflects the effectiveness of recent government measures to improve the quality of education. In addition, this study found no significant impact from wasta and nepotism, unlike previous studies. This is attributed to the satisfaction of nationals with the measures taken by the government in response to the 2011 uprising. The primary contribution of the study, however, comes from interviews with officials and managers who deal directly with Omanisation. Interviews revealed factors that perpetuate the domination of expatriates in managerial roles and unveiled some sensitive issues that people usually avoid disclosing for fear of upsetting policy makers. These include inter-faith conflict, social distance barriers, organisational silence barriers and institutional structure barriers. Participants also reported suppression of Omani employees’ rights to promotion and career-development. Barriers to Omanisation were found to be higher in the automotive sector indicating that policy implementation is sector-dependent. Policy makers are therefore advised to take this into consideration when designing Omanisation programmes to catalyse Omanisation in some sectors

Identification of promoter elements in the Dolichospermum circinale AWQC131C saxitoxin gene cluster and the experimental analysis of their use for heterologous expression

Background Dolichospermum circinale is a filamentous bloom-forming cyanobacterium responsible for biosynthesis of the paralytic shellfish toxins (PST), including saxitoxin. PSTs are neurotoxins and in their purified form are important analytical standards for monitoring the quality of water and seafood and biomedical research tools for studying neuronal sodium channels. More recently, PSTs have been recognised for their utility as local anaesthetics. Characterisation of the transcriptional elements within the saxitoxin (sxt) biosynthetic gene cluster (BGC) is a first step towards accessing these molecules for biotechnology. Results In D. circinale AWQC131C the sxt BGC is transcribed from two bidirectional promoter regions encoding five individual promoters. These promoters were identified experimentally using 5′ RACE and their activity assessed via coupling to a lux reporter system in E. coli and Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. Transcription of the predicted drug/metabolite transporter (DMT) encoded by sxtPER was found to initiate from two promoters, PsxtPER1 and PsxtPER2. In E. coli, strong expression of lux from PsxtP, PsxtD and PsxtPER1 was observed while expression from Porf24 and PsxtPER2 was remarkably weaker. In contrast, heterologous expression in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 showed that expression of lux from PsxtP, PsxtPER1, and Porf24 promoters was statistically higher compared to the non-promoter control, while PsxtD showed poor activity under the described conditions. Conclusions Both of the heterologous hosts investigated in this study exhibited high expression levels from three of the five sxt promoters. These results indicate that the majority of the native sxt promoters appear active in different heterologous hosts, simplifying initial cloning efforts. Therefore, heterologous expression of the sxt BGC in either E. coli or Synechocystis could be a viable first option for producing PSTs for industrial or biomedical purposes

STUDY OF VITAMIN B12 DEFICIENCY AND ITS RELATION WITH METFORMIN TREATMENT AMONG DIABETICS IN PRINCE RASHID HOSPITAL

Introduction: Vitamin B12 has important functions in physiology and pathology of human body. It can help against diseases through improving immune system. The role of Its deficiency with metformin treatment is still subjecting to diabetes. Objectives: 1. To investigate the prevalence of Vitamin B12 deficiency among diabetics visiting internal medicine clinics in Prince Rashid Hospital. 2. To explore the association of Vitamin B12 deficiency with metformin treatment among the same sample. Methods and subjects, Study design: A retrospective design was employed to collect data from files of diabetic patients. Study sample: A total of 447 files of diabetic patients were accessed if inclusion criteria were met. Inclusion criteria: Diabetic patient. Vitamin B12 status is mentioned. Metformin treatment is recorded in files of diabetic patients. Data collection: data will be collected for each patient and entered into excel sheet for further analysis. Statistical analysis: SPSS version 20 was used for data analysis. Data was presented as frequency and percentage for numerical variables, whereas the association between variables was tested using Chi- Square test. Significance was tested at alpha level < 0.05. Results: The prevalence of vitamin B12 deficiency was 7.2%. The mean age of study participants was 55.70+10.13 years. Metformin intake was reported by approximately 84% of diabetics. About 76% of participants had cardiac diseases. No significant association was observed between metformin and vitamin B12 deficiency (p=0.269). Conclusion: The prevalence of vitamin B12 deficiency among diabetics was 7.2%. No significant association was observed between treating diabetics with metformin and vitamin B12 deficiency. Recommendation: Lacking the association between treatment of metformin and vitamin B12 deficiency may due to small participants included in other studies, and we recommend to include larger numbers of participants in future studies

Pakistan's leading stock exchange and COVID-19 nexus : evidence from quantile regression analysis

The contagious pandemic COVID-19 outbreak has disrupted numerous economic and business activities worldwide. This study focuses on COVID-19's effects on KSE-100 index (Karachi stock exchange), which is a part of a developing country. From 2 March 2020 to 9 November 2021, COVID-19 confirmed, recovered and deaths cases were taken as covariates for the COVID-19. To explore the conditional distributional impact of COVID-19 on KSE-100, we employ robust quantile regression analysis with detailed asymmetric evidence. The results show that the confirmed and recovered cases have a significant positive impact on KSE-100 whereas expired cases having a significant negative influence. These findings contradict previous studies in the world, which claimed that COVID-19 had a negative impact on developed stock markets while aligning with a vast literature of Pakistan stock exchange. It seems that as the result of timely policy implemented by the government of Pakistan. For investors, these findings are robust, which leads to providing practical policy to combat such circumstances in the future.peer-reviewe

Microprocessor-based athlete health monitoring device based on heart rate and stride length calculation

Abnormal heart rate or low heart rate during exercise or recovery has been known to cause cardiac arrest and even sudden death in some cases. Similarly, research has shown that low step rate while running may be the causal factor for running injuries due to the force impact exerted and the extra loadings on the lower body joints. Commercial electronic devices used by athletes typically use either accelerometers or coil springs to estimate the step rate resulting in low accuracy. This paper describes the design a low-cost, wearable device that can help athletes monitor their physical activity while running or walking and report step rate, heart rate, distance covered, time elapsed and calories burnt with high accuracy. The system calculates the step rate by analyzing the signal generated from two Force Sensitive Resistors (FSRs) inserted above the insole of a running shoe which is connected to a microcontroller strapped to the athlete’s ankle. According to the experimental results, the prototype was found to have an average accuracy of 97% in measuring the distance covered