Shariah auditing in Islamic financial institutions: exploring the gap between the "desirable" and the "actual"

Persistently high expectations from the operations of Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) appears to give way for a gap to exist between “what ought to be” shariah auditing and the current practice of shariah audit in IFIs in Malaysia. Sulaiman (2005) mentioned that “what ought to be desired (the desirable)” may not coincide with “what is actually desired (the desired)” and in consequent “what is actually desired” may not be the same as “the actual” practice. This paper aims to explore empirically the gap between “the desired” and “the actual” practice of shariah auditing in IFIs in Malaysia. It is found that there exists a gap between the two concepts in terms of certain issues discussed in this study. Even though this paper cannot hope to bridge the gap that exists, it nevertheless shows that shariah audit function has not seriously taken an impact in IFIs in Malaysia despite its potential as a monitoring tool for shariah complianc

Suitability Assessment of Effluent of Mineral Water Bottling Factory for Crop Irrigation

Agricultural production in Ethiopia is mostly dependent on rain water and this kind of production system is severely affected by climatic irregularities. Thus, it is increasingly becoming obvious that reuse of wastewater especially, industrial effluent is one promising solution. Conversely, without detailed investigation, based on knowledge of the possible harmful effects on plants and soils, prolonged use of such waters will be challenging. In light of this, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the suitability of effluent of Ambo Mineral Water Bottling Factory (untreated) at different concentrations (0, 25, 50, 75, and 100%) for crop cultivation. Accordingly an experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of effluent on growth and yield of Phaseolus vulgaris (Haricot beans). The methodology of the study was: Lab analysis of wastewater samples, soil and pot experiment with replications. Each treatment had nine replications, of which four are non-destructive sampling and five are for destructive sampling. Measurements of different growth parameters such as shoot length, root length, number of leaves, numbers of branches and plant fresh and dry weight have been done each 15 days after sowing. Comparison of seed yield and number of pods was also done after end of maturity. The result indicated that most of physico-chemical characteristics of the industrial effluent, except HCO3-, K+, Ni and F-, met the irrigation quality requirements for crop production and it was found to be a reach source of useful plant nutrients like N, P, K, Ca and Mg. The effluent irrigation had significant (P<0.05) effect on soil parameters viz. PH, EC

The Effect of Psychological Frailty on Educational Supervisors’ Professional Performance

مهنة الإرشاد النفسي تعزز التنمية البشرية من خلال استثمار طاقات الإنسان وإمكاناته باستعمال العقل والتفكير من أجل بناء مجتمع متقدم, من خلال تقديم صورة افضل للعملية الإرشادية. وعليه يهدف البحث الحالي التعرف على: 1- الوهن النفسي لدى المرشدين التربويين. 2-دلالة الفروق الإحصائية في الوهن النفسي وفق متغير النوع(ذكور-إناث). 3- مستوى الأداء الوظيفي لدى المرشدين التربويون. 4- دلالة الفروق الإحصائية في مستوى الأداء الوظيفي وفق متغير النوع(ذكور-إناث). 5- العلاقة بين الوهن النفسي ومستوى الأداء الوظيفي لدى المرشدين التربويين. اقتصر البحث الحالي على المرشدين التربويين من كلا الجنسين في محافظة الأنبار قضاء الرمادي ضمن مديرية تربية الأنبار. اعتمد الباحثان خطوات المنهج الوصفي الارتباطي لتحقيق أهداف بحثه, وتكون مجتمع البحث الحالي من جميع المرشدين، البالغ عددهم(80) مرشداً ومرشدة. وتحقيقاً لأهداف البحث تم بناء مقياس الوهن النفسي ومقياس الأداء الوظيفي من قبل الباحثين.وتحقق الباحثان من الخصائص السايكومترية للمقياسين. وقد تم تطبيق المقياسين على مجتمع البحث بعد معالجة البيانات بالوسائل الإحصائية الآتية: مربع كاي, معامل ارتباط بيرسون, الاختبار التائي لعيّنة واحدة, الاختبار التائي لمجموعتين مستقلتين. أظهرت النتائج الاتي: 1- إن أفراد عيّنة البحث بشكل عام يعانون من الوهن النفسي, وهناك فروق تعود لصالح الذكور. 2-مستوى الأداء الوظيفي أعلى من المتوسط لدى أفراد العيّنة. 3- وجود علاقة عكسية بين الوهن النفسي والأداء الوظيفي.The career of psychological guidance promotes human development by investing human potentials and potentials by using reason and thinking in order to build an advanced society by providing a better picture of the guidance process. The current research aims to identify:                                                   1- psychological weakness of the educational counselors. 2 - Significance of statistical differences in psychological weakness according to gender variable (male - female). 3 - the level of performance of educational counselors. 4 - the significance of statistical differences in the level of performance of the function according to the type variable (male - female). 5 - The relationship between psychological weakness and the level of performance of educational counselors. The current study was limited to educational counselors of both sexes in Anbar province, Ramadi district within the Directorate of Anbar Education. The researchers adopted the descriptive descriptive steps to achieve the objectives of his research. The current research community consists of all 80 mentors and mentors. To achieve the objectives of the research was built on the measure of psychological weakness and the measure of performance by the researchers. The two researchers also investigated the cycometric properties of the two measurements. The two measures were applied to the research community after processing the data using the following statistical means: the Kai square, the Pearson correlation coefficient, the one-term meta-test, the two-group tit test. The results showed that: 1. The members of the research sample in general suffer from mental weakness, and there are differences in favor of males. 2 - the level of performance higher than the average among the sample members. 3 - There is an inverse relationship between psychological weakness and functional performance

Implementation of variational iteration method for various types of linear and nonlinear partial differential equations

There are various linear and nonlinear one-dimensional partial differential equations that are the focus of this research. There are a large number of these equations that cannot be solved analytically or precisely. The evaluation of nonlinear partial differential equations, even if analytical solutions exist, may be problematic. Therefore, it may be necessary to use approximate analytical methodologies to solve these issues. As a result, a more effective and accurate approach must be investigated and analyzed. It is shown in this study that the Lagrange multiplier may be used to get an ideal value for parameters in a functional form and then used to construct an iterative series solution. Linear and nonlinear partial differential equations may both be solved using the variational iteration method (VIM) method, thanks to its high computing power and high efficiency. Decoding and analyzing possible Korteweg-De-Vries, Benjamin, and Airy equations demonstrates the method’s ability. With just a few iterations, the produced findings are very effective, precise, and convergent to the exact answer. As a result, solving nonlinear equations using VIM is regarded as a viable option

Preparation and Evaluation of Azithromycin as Rectal Suppository to Treat Bacterial Infection of COVID-19

In this study azithromycin was formulated for the first time as co-amorphous system suppository system to achieve the maximum bioavailability and to avoid the side effect that might be with oral route which is associated with this drug during treatment of Corona virus secondary bacterial infection. In this study the co-amorphous system was characterized by Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Powder X-ray Diffractometry (PXRD) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). Eight different suppository formulas were prepared, these formulas were subjected to the dissolution test by Ph. Eur. Apparatus I (basket apparatus). The antibacterial activity was measured by the agar well-diffusion method. The results revealed the formation co-amorphous system. The formula in co-amorphous system with glycerin showed the best release for both azithromycin and curcumin. The combination and co-amorphous system showed double value of zone of inhibition rather than the drugs alone. This study will be interested in drugs company to find alternative rout of drug administration for serious infection that associated with GIT symptoms.   

Potential applications of wastes from energy generation particularly biochar in Malaysia.

In Malaysia, abundant agricultural wastes are generated yearly. Therefore it is beneficial to discover new ways to utilize the wastes and employ the carbon source in different industries. Biochar are produced through many heat treatments such as combustion, gasification and pyrolysis for energy generation. The characteristics of these stable carbons such as the physical properties, chemical composition, surface area and surface chemistry determine the effectiveness of the cabon in different applications. Biochar has the ability to retain carbon and this condition is advantageous to prevent the release of carbon back to the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide. Application of biochar to soil helps to improve soil fertility and raise agricultural productivity. Biochar also has the ability to reduce carbon dioxide in the flue gas system. There have only been a few studies that discuss on the potential applications of this agriculture waste. The biochar's potential application as carbon sequester for soil application, energy production and dye sorption is being explored in this paper

Effects of hospital facilities on patient outcomes after cancer surgery: an international, prospective, observational study

Background Early death after cancer surgery is higher in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) compared with in high-income countries, yet the impact of facility characteristics on early postoperative outcomes is unknown. The aim of this study was to examine the association between hospital infrastructure, resource availability, and processes on early outcomes after cancer surgery worldwide.Methods A multimethods analysis was performed as part of the GlobalSurg 3 study-a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study of patients who had surgery for breast, colorectal, or gastric cancer. The primary outcomes were 30-day mortality and 30-day major complication rates. Potentially beneficial hospital facilities were identified by variable selection to select those associated with 30-day mortality. Adjusted outcomes were determined using generalised estimating equations to account for patient characteristics and country-income group, with population stratification by hospital.Findings Between April 1, 2018, and April 23, 2019, facility-level data were collected for 9685 patients across 238 hospitals in 66 countries (91 hospitals in 20 high-income countries; 57 hospitals in 19 upper-middle-income countries; and 90 hospitals in 27 low-income to lower-middle-income countries). The availability of five hospital facilities was inversely associated with mortality: ultrasound, CT scanner, critical care unit, opioid analgesia, and oncologist. After adjustment for case-mix and country income group, hospitals with three or fewer of these facilities (62 hospitals, 1294 patients) had higher mortality compared with those with four or five (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 3.85 [95% CI 2.58-5.75]; p<0.0001), with excess mortality predominantly explained by a limited capacity to rescue following the development of major complications (63.0% vs 82.7%; OR 0.35 [0.23-0.53]; p<0.0001). Across LMICs, improvements in hospital facilities would prevent one to three deaths for every 100 patients undergoing surgery for cancer.Interpretation Hospitals with higher levels of infrastructure and resources have better outcomes after cancer surgery, independent of country income. Without urgent strengthening of hospital infrastructure and resources, the reductions in cancer-associated mortality associated with improved access will not be realised

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

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Global burden of 288 causes of death and life expectancy decomposition in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BACKGROUND Regular, detailed reporting on population health by underlying cause of death is fundamental for public health decision making. Cause-specific estimates of mortality and the subsequent effects on life expectancy worldwide are valuable metrics to gauge progress in reducing mortality rates. These estimates are particularly important following large-scale mortality spikes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. When systematically analysed, mortality rates and life expectancy allow comparisons of the consequences of causes of death globally and over time, providing a nuanced understanding of the effect of these causes on global populations. METHODS The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 cause-of-death analysis estimated mortality and years of life lost (YLLs) from 288 causes of death by age-sex-location-year in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations for each year from 1990 until 2021. The analysis used 56 604 data sources, including data from vital registration and verbal autopsy as well as surveys, censuses, surveillance systems, and cancer registries, among others. As with previous GBD rounds, cause-specific death rates for most causes were estimated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model-a modelling tool developed for GBD to assess the out-of-sample predictive validity of different statistical models and covariate permutations and combine those results to produce cause-specific mortality estimates-with alternative strategies adapted to model causes with insufficient data, substantial changes in reporting over the study period, or unusual epidemiology. YLLs were computed as the product of the number of deaths for each cause-age-sex-location-year and the standard life expectancy at each age. As part of the modelling process, uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated using the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles from a 1000-draw distribution for each metric. We decomposed life expectancy by cause of death, location, and year to show cause-specific effects on life expectancy from 1990 to 2021. We also used the coefficient of variation and the fraction of population affected by 90% of deaths to highlight concentrations of mortality. Findings are reported in counts and age-standardised rates. Methodological improvements for cause-of-death estimates in GBD 2021 include the expansion of under-5-years age group to include four new age groups, enhanced methods to account for stochastic variation of sparse data, and the inclusion of COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality-which includes excess mortality associated with the pandemic, excluding COVID-19, lower respiratory infections, measles, malaria, and pertussis. For this analysis, 199 new country-years of vital registration cause-of-death data, 5 country-years of surveillance data, 21 country-years of verbal autopsy data, and 94 country-years of other data types were added to those used in previous GBD rounds. FINDINGS The leading causes of age-standardised deaths globally were the same in 2019 as they were in 1990; in descending order, these were, ischaemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lower respiratory infections. In 2021, however, COVID-19 replaced stroke as the second-leading age-standardised cause of death, with 94·0 deaths (95% UI 89·2-100·0) per 100 000 population. The COVID-19 pandemic shifted the rankings of the leading five causes, lowering stroke to the third-leading and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to the fourth-leading position. In 2021, the highest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 occurred in sub-Saharan Africa (271·0 deaths [250·1-290·7] per 100 000 population) and Latin America and the Caribbean (195·4 deaths [182·1-211·4] per 100 000 population). The lowest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 were in the high-income super-region (48·1 deaths [47·4-48·8] per 100 000 population) and southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania (23·2 deaths [16·3-37·2] per 100 000 population). Globally, life expectancy steadily improved between 1990 and 2019 for 18 of the 22 investigated causes. Decomposition of global and regional life expectancy showed the positive effect that reductions in deaths from enteric infections, lower respiratory infections, stroke, and neonatal deaths, among others have contributed to improved survival over the study period. However, a net reduction of 1·6 years occurred in global life expectancy between 2019 and 2021, primarily due to increased death rates from COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality. Life expectancy was highly variable between super-regions over the study period, with southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania gaining 8·3 years (6·7-9·9) overall, while having the smallest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 (0·4 years). The largest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean (3·6 years). Additionally, 53 of the 288 causes of death were highly concentrated in locations with less than 50% of the global population as of 2021, and these causes of death became progressively more concentrated since 1990, when only 44 causes showed this pattern. The concentration phenomenon is discussed heuristically with respect to enteric and lower respiratory infections, malaria, HIV/AIDS, neonatal disorders, tuberculosis, and measles. INTERPRETATION Long-standing gains in life expectancy and reductions in many of the leading causes of death have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the adverse effects of which were spread unevenly among populations. Despite the pandemic, there has been continued progress in combatting several notable causes of death, leading to improved global life expectancy over the study period. Each of the seven GBD super-regions showed an overall improvement from 1990 and 2021, obscuring the negative effect in the years of the pandemic. Additionally, our findings regarding regional variation in causes of death driving increases in life expectancy hold clear policy utility. Analyses of shifting mortality trends reveal that several causes, once widespread globally, are now increasingly concentrated geographically. These changes in mortality concentration, alongside further investigation of changing risks, interventions, and relevant policy, present an important opportunity to deepen our understanding of mortality-reduction strategies. Examining patterns in mortality concentration might reveal areas where successful public health interventions have been implemented. Translating these successes to locations where certain causes of death remain entrenched can inform policies that work to improve life expectancy for people everywhere. FUNDING Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation