Fiqh al-aqalliyyāt (jurisprudence for minorities) and the problems of contemporary muslim minorities of Britain from the perspective of Islamic jurisprudence

This study seeks to explore some of the main problems contemporary British Muslims encounter from the perspective of Islamic jurisprudence. In so doing, it mainly aims to shed light on the extent Muslims in Britain face problems and what impact they might have on their religious identity as well as relationship, belonging, and contribution to the wider society. In so doing, the study will strive to examine whether existing fiqh (Isalmic jurisprudence) literature is adequate to guide contemporary fiqh scholars to deal with such issues effectively and how some contemporary answers to such issues are inappropriate. If that is the case, what would be the way forward jurists should take to find appropriate solutions? Hence, this study will use qualitative methodology to investigate such issues and questions and it will lead the study to emphasise the necessity to find answers to such problems and a mechanism to handle them, which this study would seek to suggest as a jurisprudential approach called fiqh al-aqalliyyāt al-Muslimah (Islamic Jurisprudence for Muslim Minorities) based on values, principles, universalities, and higher objectives of Islamic law: maqāsid al-Sharī‘ah (Purposes of Islamic Sharī‘ah) presented by revisiting textual sources of Islamic law as well as lived examples of early generations of Islam. It will also make some suggestions about further studies needed as regards to fiqh for Muslim minorities.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Effectiveness of human mobility change in reducing the spread of COVID-19: ecological study of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Non-pharmacological interventions including mobility restriction have been developed to curb transmission of SARS-CoV-2. We provided precise estimates of disease burden and examined the impact of mobility restriction on reducing the COVID-19 effective reproduction number in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This study involved secondary analysis of open-access COVID-19 data obtained from different sources between 2 March and 26 December 2020. The dependent and main independent variables of interest were the effective reproduction number and anonymized mobility indices, respectively. Multiple linear regression was used to investigate the relationship between the community mobility change and the effective reproduction number for COVID-19. By 26 December 2020, the total number of COVID-19 cases in Saudi Arabia reached 360,690, with a cumulative incidence rate of 105.41/10,000 population. Al Jouf, Northern Border, and Jazan regions were ≥2.5 times (OR = 2.93; 95% CI: 1.29–6.64), (OR = 2.50; 95% CI: 1.08–5.81), and (OR = 2.51; 95% CI: 1.09–5.79) more likely to have a higher case fatality rate than Riyadh, the capital. Mobility changes in public and residential areas were significant predictors of the COVID-19 effective reproduction number. This study demonstrated that community mobility restrictions effectively control transmission of the COVID-19 virus

A Study of Association between Inguinal Hernia and Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia

INTRODUCTION: Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia is an important factor contributing to Bladder Outlet Obstruction in males. It leads to chronic straining on micturition. Chronic straining for micturition could precipitate inguinal hernia in adults. 2. Both the incidence of Inguinal Hernia and symptomatic Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia are often found altogether with increased frequency in old population. On the basis of this evidence significant correlation between inguinal hernia and obstructing benign prostate hyperplasia can be expected2. AIM OF THE STUDY: 1. To find out the incidence of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia in male patients with inguinal hernia. 2. To find out whether there is any causal association between Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia and Inguinal Hernia. 3. To find out whether BPH is significant risk factor for developing inguinal hernia in elderly male population MATERIALS AND METHODS: 100 male patients aged more than 50 years admitted with inguinal hernia to the Surgical Department of Tirunelveli medical college Hospital, Tirunelveli between March 2019 and August 2020 are selected as cases. Inclusion criteria: 1. Male sex, 2. Age more than 50 years, 3. Those with inguinal hernia. Exclusion criteria: 1. Female sex, 2. Age ≤ 50 years, 3. Known case of connective tissue disorders, 4. Known case of BPH, who are already on drugs or have had any form of surgery for BPH in the past. 5. Presence of complications of hernia, such as irreducibility, strangulation or obstruction. The method of selection was to select the first 100 male patients in the order date of their admission to the Tirunelveli medical college Hospital without any other methods of randomization. The case selection was independent of the side of the hernia or whether the hernia is unilateral, bilateral or recurrent. Every week, after selecting cases, the corresponding number of control subjects was selected randomly from the patients admitted to the surgical Department of Government medical college, Tirunelveli for conditions other than inguinal hernias so as to make a control group of 100 subjects. The inclusion criteria for the controls include, 1. Male sex, 2. Age > 50 years, 3. Not seriously ill. The exclusion criteria for the controls include, 1. Female sex 2. Age ≤ 50 years, 3. Known case of connective tissue disorders, 4. Known case of BPH, who are already on drugs or have had any form of surgery for BPH in the past, 5. Presence of inguinal hernia unilateral, bilateral or recurrent, 6. History of surgery done for inguinal hernia in the past, 7. Seriously ill or bedridden patient. Informed written consent was obtained from each of the cases and controls. All subjects were interviewed and examined by the single observer. Hence for this study three independent variable - International Prostate Symptom Score, Prostate specific antigen (PSA), and prostate volume were taken and prevalence of BPH in cases and controls were found out for each of the three variables separately. Chi Square test is used to find out the association and P values were calculated for each variable. A P value <0.05 is taken as statistically significant. CONCLUSION • Among the cases 94 were having unilateral hernia and 6 were having bilateral hernias. • Right sided hernia was slightly more common than the left sided hernias (51 vs 43). • Univariate analysis of association between Inguinal Hernia and Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia using International Prostate Symptom Score showed no statistically significant association between the two. • Univariate analysis of association between Inguinal Hernia and Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia using Serum Prostatic Specific Antigen also showed no statistically significant association between the two. • Prostatic size also did not show any statistically significant association between Inguinal Hernia and Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia. • There was no significant difference in the distribution of the number of patients with Post – void residual urine volume >50ml between cases and controls. Eventhough both Inguinal Hernia and Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia are seen with increased frequency in the aged male population, this study showed no statistically significant association between the two. Their occurrence together is considered a chance co-existence rather than cause and effect

Reading &quot;The Chrysanthemum and the Sword&quot;: Social Anthropology of Ruth Benedict

Abstract: Thi

Adsorption and Desorption Mechanism of Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch Grafted Polyvinyl Alcohol (OPEFB-g-PVA) Hydrogel in Nickel(II) Removal

Oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) fiber is a highly potential natural polymer to be used as efficient and low cost adsorbents of heavy metal cations from waste water. Oil palm empty fruit bunch grafted polyvinyl alcohol (OPEFB-g-PVA) was prepared as Nickel(II) adsorbent. The ultimate objective of this research is to synthesize OPEFBg-PVA and study the adsorption and desorption of OPEFB-g-PVA hydrogel at different weight percent of OPEFB. OPEFB-g-PVA was synthesized by using ammonium persulfate (APS) as initiator and boric acid as the crosslinking agent via solution polymerization. All of the samples were characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The wat Besides that, the adsorption and desorption mechanism of the hydrogel was determined by using Langmuir isotherms

Antifungal activity of bioagents and plant extracts against certain fungal diseases of potatoes

Twenty-six fungal isolates were obtained from potato plants and tubers growing in different localities in Egypt. The isolates were identified as 11 Rhizoctonia solani, 8 Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and 7 Fusarium spp. The 26 isolates were screened due to their pathogenic capabilities and the most pathogenic isolate among each of the three obtained genera was selected for this study. In vitro studies included the effect of 7 bacterial isolates, 6 Trichoderma isolates, as well as 6 plant extracts at four rates of application against the three fungal pathogens, Trichoderma harzianum (T5) achieved the highest mycelial growth inhibition, followed by T. asperellum (T34) and T.&nbsp; harzianum (T10) isolates. Additionally, Bacillus subtilis (BS2) recorded the best mycelial growth inhibition against the three tested fungi, followed by B. subtilis (BS1) and B.megatirum(BM2). On the subject of plant extracts, garlic extract gave the greatest reduction of the mycelial growth with all rates of application, followed by henna and ginger extracts. Field experiments were conducted during 2018/2019 and 2019/2020 growing seasons to evaluate bioagent activities as well as plant extracts in reducing disease severity caused by the three fore-mentioned pathogenic fungi. Trichoderma harzianum (T5) exhibited the highest disease reduction in vivo, followed by (T34) and Pseudomonas fluorescens (PF2), as compared with the control. Under greenhouse conditions, garlic extract decreased disease severity of both Fusarium sp and S. sclerotiorum, followed by henna and ginger extracts. On the other hand, henna extract came in the first order in reducing disease severity caused by R.solani, followed by ginger and garlic, as compared with the control. On the whole, Trichoderma harzianum (T5) and T. asperellum (T34) were the best treatments, those reduced diseases severity to the greatest extent if compared with the other treatments and the control

Summer-associated dermatitis: A cross-sectional study of a unique eczematous dermatosis in south India

Background: In our hospital setup located in the tropical zone, during each summer, we frequently come across a unique eczematous dermatosis among elderly females that typically occur in summer. Aims and Objectives: We carried out this study with the objective of studying the demographic and clinical features of this dermatosis. Materials and Methods: In this hospital-based descriptive study, we enrolled twenty consecutive patients presenting with typical features of the dermatosis of interest, such as itchy eczematous scaly papule and plaques distributed predominantly over flexures, self-limiting in nature, and with summer exacerbation. Detailed history, clinical examination, and laboratory investigations were carried out. Results: All were females with a mean age of 52.35±15.74 years. Mean age at onset of the disease was 50.80±15.77 years. The onset and exacerbation of lesions typically occurred during summer. The mean duration of the disease was 17.75±15.80 months. The typical lesions were multiple well-defined erythematous scaly papules and plaques bilaterally symmetrically distributed predominantly over the flexures. All biopsies showed spongiotic dermatitis picture and direct immunofluorescence was negative in all of them. Conclusion: This unique dermatosis which occurs in elderly females has not been widely reported. With clinical features and results of various investigations, it would be appropriate to call it “summer-associated dermatitis.

The Potential Of Biomonitoring of Air Quality using leaf Characteristics of Allamanda cathartica, Filicium decipiens, Mussaenda erythrophylla and Syzygium campanulatum

Air pollution is major hazards that disturb the plant growth and development. The major sources of air pollution in urban areas specifically are from increase of traffic and rapid growth of industrial and residential area. The high level of traffic area was selected as a polluted habitat (P) and the low traffic is selected as a less polluted habitat (LP). Biomonitoring is the technique based on use of living organisms as bio-indicator to evaluate the impact of air pollution on plants. In this study, we have assessed the potential or suitability of available Allamanda cathartka, Filicium decipiens, Mussaenda erythrophyl/a and Syzygium campanulatum as bio-indicators for monitoring of air quality. The studies areas were Jalan Tun Abdul Rahman in Kuching city and around campus of UNIMAS, Kota Samarahan. Therefore, the parameters measured in this study include chlorophyll content, specific leaf area (SLA), stomatal density (SD), stomatal resistance (RS) and stomatal pore surface (SPS), was assessed from collection of leaves sample. In conclusion, higher result of SLA, SD, RS and SPS of studied sample in UNIMAS than Kuching was observed although the rate of pollution is moderately polluted for both sampling locations