Corporate Governance Practices and Earnings Management in Islamic Banking Institutions

This paper examines corporate governance (CG) characteristics and relates them to earnings management (EM) behaviours in the context of a large emerging sector, Islamic banking industry. Empirical Investigation used multivariate probit analysis and relied on a sample of 90 Islamic Banks over the period of the years 2000-2009. Findings revealed that CG issues in Islamic banking differ significantly from those of the conventional system. Main differences are found with regard to philosophical aspects, including objectives of the bank, natures of contract involved, key players in the CG practice as well as the relationships between the players. We verified that these aspects provide strong justification for an additional layer in the CG of an Islamic bank being the Shari'ah Supervisory Board (SSB). The mechanism and tools for the effective implementation of CG are relatively the same as the conventional system. Results suggest also that audit committee plays a more significant role in moderating EM than the other aspects of CG.  Moreover, the estimated coefficients of SSB embeddedness suggest that an in-house SSB is effective in mitigating EM. The results, however, do not provide evidence that SSB characteristics, such as SSB size, SSB members objectivity and SSB members competence are significant in mitigating EM. By the same, results revealed no difference between Islamic banks with and without governance  committee in terms of EM intensity. Keywords: Earnings Management, Corporate Governance, Islamic Banking Institutions

Earnings Management to Avoid Earnings Decreases and Losses: Empirical Evidence from Islamic Banking Industry

We use earnings distribution approach (EDA) to investigate whether and why Islamic banks manage reported earnings. First findings confirm the assumption that Islamic banks manage earnings to avoid reporting losses (with statistical tests) and earnings decreases (with visual evidence but without statistical tests). However, earning management phenomenon is not as obvious in Islamic banking institutions as in other non-Islamic institutions. That is, Islamic banking institutions practice earnings manipulations but not as well as non-Islamic institutions. Additionally findings show that prospect theory can explain the trade-off between risk and return, i.e., Islamic banks above the earnings threshold are found to be risk averters while banks below the earnings threshold are found to be risk seekers. Therefore, we have accepted the hypothesis that prospect theory explains Islamic banks’ motivation in managing earnings to exceed thresholds. Keywords: Earnings Management, Earnings Distribution Approach (EDA), Prospect Theory, Islamic Banking Institutions

DETERMINANTS OF FOCUSED ANTENATAL CARE USE AMONG PREGNANT WOMEN, ATTENDING DELIVERY, IN KARAMARA HOSPITAL, JIGJIGA TOWN, SOMALI REGION, EAST ETHIOPIA

Objective: The aim of the study was to assess the determinants of focused antenatal care (ANC) use among pregnant women attending delivery in Karamara Hospital at Jigjiga town, Somali region, East Ethiopia from February to March 2017. Methods: Unmatched case–control study was conduct in Karamara hospital at Jigjiga town. A total of 366 women 183 cases and 183 controls were selected by convenience sampling techniques. Data were collected by trained data collectors using face-to-face interview of women. Logistic regression model was used to determine the predictors of focused ANC nonuse. Variables with p<0.05 and 95% confidence interval were considered as statistically significant. Results: The study revealed that 80.3% of women had ANC follow-up in their last pregnancy. About 39.3% of women had FANC visit. Urban resident women (AOR=3.1, 95% CI [1.418, 7.211]), knowledge of danger signs of pregnancy (AOR=3.5, 95% CI [1.886, 6.832]), knowledge of days FANC services provision (AOR=4.4, 95% CI [1.86, 10.59]), existence of tradition believe about FANC (AOR=0.16, 95% CI [0.079, 0.347]), distance less than or equal 1 h (AOR=2.2, 95% CI [0.838, 5.850]), existence of health facility (AOR=3.14, 95% CI [1.38, 7.544]), information form health-care provider (AOR=3.6, 95% CI [1.04, 12.83]) delivery than their counterpart, and payment needed to use FANC (AOR=0.138, 95% CI [0.057, 0.331]) were significantly associated with FANC use. Conclusion: Being urban resident, knowledge about danger sign of pregnancy, time to reach nearest health facility, radio/Tv use and culture were significantly associated with FANC utilization among pregnant women. Thus, efforts should be made to improve accessibility and availability of the health facility, educating of pregnant women about danger signs of pregnancy physical, information education, and communication of the benefits of FANC service were also critical area that needs intervention

An Analysis of the History and Discourse of the Tunisian Islamic Movement al-Nahda: A Case Study of the Politicisation of Islam.

The aim of this study is to discover and analyse the history and discourse of the Tunisian Islamic movement al-Nahda, within the context of post-independence Tunisian history and the progression of thought within contemporary Islamic movements. As such, the study is both historical and analytical. It tries to give an accurate reading of the emergence, rise and recent eclipse of al-Nahda, as well as a comprehensive analysis of its political, social and intellectual discourse. The importance of the study comes from the fact that it may be considered the first academic research done in English on the Tunisian Islamic Movement. Up to now, it has received only scant treatment in English sources. Even in Arabic or in French sources are rare, and are usually written by either sympathisers or opponents of the movement. The history and the ideas of the movement are analysed in six chapters. The first concentrates on studying the reasons and factors behind the emergence of the movement; the second on the politicisation of the movement and the implications of that politicisation for its priorities and discourse; the third on the three major confrontations between the movement and the Tunisian regime that culminated in 1991 in the banning of all al-Nahda's activities inside Tunisia. The basic concepts of a political Islam in the movement's literature are explored and analysed in chapter four, in particular the Islamists' belief in the comprehensiveness of Islam and their rejection of secularism. Chapter five then concentrates on studying the detailed proposal put forward by the leader of al-Nahda for the definition of a modern Islamic state. Chapter six addresses the Islamists' cultural agenda and their insistence on an Islamic identity for Tunisia, with particular reference to the perceived polarisation between Westernisation and Islamisation. The thesis also contains an appendix comprising some of the movement's most important documents translated from Arabic

Unusual combined fracture dislocation of the wrist and metacarpophalangeal joints: a case report and review of the literature

AbstractVolar perilunate fracture dislocation is an extremely rare carpal injury, but associated with metacarpophalangeal joint dislocation of both the ipsilateral index and middle finger has never been reported. We report one case of a 28-year-old man following a high-energy trauma. After performing closed reduction of the metacarpophalangeal joint injury, open reduction of the wrist injury through volar approach was done, and a K-wire fixation was used to stabilize the scaphoid fracture and lunotriquetral joint. After a 16 months' follow-up period, the wrist regained a full range of motion without symptoms, and the fractured bone was strengthened in a good position

Fate of phthalic acid esters during composting of both lagooning and activated sludges

Among the phthalic acid esters (PAEs) targeted by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) as priority pollutants, di-ethyl-hexyl phthalate (DEHP) is the major pollutant identified at high concentration level in lagooning sludge (LS), at about 28.67 mg/kg, andin activated sludge (AS), at about 6.26 mg/kg. Other phthalic acid esters, such as di-butyl phthalate (DBP) and di-methyl phthalate (DMP) show very low concentrations. During sludge composting, after the stabilization phase, the subsequent appearance of DEP and then DMPoccurred indicating that microbial metabolism begins by alkyl side-chain degradation before aromatic ring-cleavage. The appearance andaccumulation of PAEs with a short alkyl side-chain in the last stages of AS and LS composting is suggested originating from the degradationof phthalates with a much long side-chain. The DEHP showed a rate of biodegradation that follows a first-order kinetic model during composting of both AS and LS. The calculated DEHP half-lives are 45.4 days for LS and 28.9 days for AS. The better DEHP biodegradationrate (2.4 Â 10À2 dayÀ1) have been observed in the case of AS composting compared to LS compost (1.53 Â 10À2 dayÀ1). The mono-ethyl-hexyl phthalates MEHP has been shown to follow the same order of biodegradation as DEHP indicating that the same mechanism is followed(hydrolysis or dealkylation of each DEHP side-chain). Composting could be suggested as a detoxification process for the removal of PAEs(mainly DEHP) from sludges after a sufficient time of treatment to provide a safe end product

Development of a System for Crude Oil Classification

Crude oil is the most sought petroleum product and can be found in different places of the world. It is composed of hydrocarbon, organic compounds and small amounts of metal, this mixture can be refined to produce thousands of products that are generally called petrochemicals including gasoline, diesel oil and plastics. Crude oil can be classified according to the physical and chemical properties of the oil, such as API Gravity of the oil, viscosity, colour and specific gravity. It can also be classified as either "sweet" or "sour" crude oil based on its sulphur content. However, the API gravity classification technique is perhaps the most important because it gives good indication of the commercial value or the price of the given oil. In terms of API gravity, the crude oil is classified as light, medium, heavy and extra heavy crude oils. The classification is done in the laboratory and it’s considered as a time-consuming process. The scope of this project is to design a system that can minimize the time to classify the crude oil into two types by measuring the optical properties of the oil, applications for this system are mostly used in oil and gas field