Empirical Model of Poverty Alleviation in Islamic Economic Perspective: Evidence from Indonesia

This study aims to examine the model of poverty alleviation by analyzing several aspects that in Islamic economics are considered to have an effect on poverty alleviation. Using a sample of provinces in Indonesia, this study applies to panel data analysis. The novelty of this research is using more variables, including some aspects rarely discussed in previous empirical models. The results of this study indicate a significant negative effect of mandatory and charity transfer variables on the poverty level. Although using different proxies, the results of this study are in line with and confirm previous theories and empirical research regarding the effect of zakat on poverty alleviation. In addition, the variable of increasing income was also found to have a significant effect on poverty alleviation. This provides an overview for the government to be able to optimize the role of zakat and increase income to reduce poverty, for example, by integrating the distribution of ziswaf through the provision of working capital more broadly and integrated towards economic improvement and growth so that it will bring a greater multiplier effect. In addition, the results of this study also provide recommendations for researchers to complement the limitations of this study. The limitation of this study is the lack of proxies in describing aspects that become variables of poverty alleviation in Islam as a whole. Whereas in Islam, poverty and its alleviation are multidimensional things and are not limited to material aspects but also spiritual

Use of Dark Chocolate for Diabetic Patients: A Review of the Literature and Current Evidence

Dietary changes are a major lifestyle factor that can influence the progression of chronic diseases such as diabetes. Recently, flavanols, a subgroup of plant-derived phytochemicals called flavonoids, have gained increasing attention, due to studies showing an inverse correlation between dietary intake of flavanols and incidence of diabetes. Flavanoids in the cocoa plant may ameliorate insulin resistance by improving endothelial function, altering glucose metabolism, and reducing oxidative stress. Oxidative stress has been proposed as the main culprit for insulin resistance. The well-established effects of cocoa on endothelial function also points to a possible effect on insulin sensitivity. The relationship between insulin resistance and endothelial function is a reciprocal one. Overall, the evidence from these studies suggests that cocoa may be useful in slowing the progression to type 2 diabetes and ameliorating insulin resistance in metabolic syndrome. Additionally, results from several small studies indicate that cocoa may also have therapeutic potential in preventing cardiovascular complications in diabetic patients. Studies highlighting the potential of cocoa-containing diets, in large-randomized controlled trials should be performed which might give us a better opportunity to analyze the potential health-care benefit for reducing the risk of complications in diabetic patients at molecular level

Impact of armed conflict on cardiovascular disease risk: a systematic review

ObjectivesProlonged armed conflict may constrain efforts to address non-communicable disease in some settings. We assessed the impact of armed conflict on cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk among civilians in low/middle-income countries (LMICs).MethodsIn February 2019, we performed a systematic review searching Medline, Embase, PsychINFO, Global Health and Web of Science without language or date restrictions. We included adult, civilian populations in LMICs. Outcomes included CVDs and diabetes, and eight clinical and behavioural factors (blood pressure, blood glucose, lipids, tobacco, alcohol, body mass index, nutrition, physical activity). We systematically reanalysed data from original papers and presented them descriptively.ResultsSixty-five studies analysed 23 conflicts, and 66% were of low quality. We found some evidence that armed conflict is associated with an increased coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular and endocrine diseases, in addition to increased blood pressure, lipids, alcohol and tobacco use. These associations were more consistent for mortality from chronic ischaemic heart disease or unspecified heart disease, systolic blood pressure and tobacco use. Associations between armed conflict and other outcomes showed no change, or had mixed or uncertain evidence. We found no clear patterning by conflict type, length of follow-up and study quality, nor strong evidence for publication bias.ConclusionsArmed conflict may exacerbate CVDs and their risk factors, but the current literature is somewhat inconsistent. Postconflict reconstruction efforts should deliver low-resource preventative interventions through primary care to prevent excess CVD-related morbidity and mortality.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42017065722</jats:sec

Islamic Ethics And Commitment Among Muslim Nurses In Indonesia

Ethical principles are among the topics that are widely emphasised in the Islamic society. Ethics is a set of values, do’s and don’ts that can play an important role in the effective management of organisations. If employees of organisations, especially medical staff, are working in the atmosphere of Islamic ethics, they show functional behaviours in line with the goals and missions of organisation. Due to the direct relationship and treatment of nurses with recipients of medical services, nurses’ behaviours have significant impact on the quality of services provided by medical centres. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between Islamic ethics and commitment of 1100 Muslim nurses in Indonesia in 2021. This study was performed by descriptive-analytical correlational method. Data were collected using Islamic ethics and organisational commitment questionnaires and measured by Pearson correlation coefficient in Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and structural equation modelling analysis (SEM) in linear structural relationships (LISREL). The results indicate that Islamic ethics have significant and positive relationship with nurses’ commitment as p = 0.542 and t = 5.63

Using left ventricular assist devices in advanced heart failure patients

Advanced Heart Failure (AHF) is a complex syndrome that affects the physiology of the heart to maintain efficient blood circulation resulting in multiorgan failure and, eventually, death. Left Ventricular Assist Devices (LVADs) have become the cornerstone therapy for AHF patients, both as a bridge to transplantation and as a decisive therapy. Recently the results of the MOMENTUM 3 Trial were published. The trial compared HeartMate 3 LVAD with HeartMate II LVAD in a randomized trial in The Multicenter Study of MagLev Technology in Patients Undergoing Mechanical Circulatory Support Therapy with HeartMate 3 (MOMENTUM 3). Of 366 patients, 190 were assigned to the centrifugal-flow pump group (HeartMate 3) and 176 to the axial-flow (HeartMate II) pump group. In the intention-to-treat population, the primary end point occurred in 151 patients (79.5%) in the centrifugal-flow pump group, as compared with 106 (60.2%) in the axial-flow pump group (P < 0.001 for noninferiority). Reoperation for pump malfunction was less frequent in the centrifugal-flow pump group than in the axial-flow pump group (P < 0.001).The results of the MOMENTUM 3 Trial are a big achievement in the cardiovascular world. Any improvement in LVADs that reduces the risk of stroke, perhaps the most feared complication of these devices, would be meaningful. Besides, given the observed lower rate of pump thrombosis and reoperation for pump malfunction, it already seems likely that the HeartMate 3 will supplant the HeartMate II in clinical practice. In addition, the risks that are associated with reoperation undoubtedly counterbalanced any unintentional bias in performing that intervention

Presenting and Evaluating Scaled Extreme Programming Process Model

Extreme programming (XP) is one of the widely used software process model for the development of small scale projects from agile family. XP is widely accepted by software industry due to various features it provides such as: handling frequent changing requirements, customer satisfaction, rapid feedback, iterative structure, team collaboration, and small releases. On the other hand, XP also holds some drawbacks, including: less documentation, less focus on design, and poor architecture. Due to all of these limitations, XP is only suitable for small scale projects and doesn’t work well for medium and large scale projects. To resolve this issue many researchers have proposed its customized versions, particularly for medium and large scale projects. The real issue arises when XP is selected for the development of small scale and low risk project but gradually due to requirement change, the scope of the project changes from small scale to medium or large scale project. At that stage its structure and practices which works well for small project cannot handle the extended scope. To resolve this issue, this paper contributes by proposing a scaled version of XP process model called SXP. The proposed model can effectively handle such situation and can be used for small as well as for medium and large scale project with same efficiency. Furthermore, this paper also evaluates the proposed model empirically in order to reflect its effectiveness and efficiency. A small scale client oriented project is developed by using proposed SXP and empirical results are collected. For an effective evaluation, the collected results are compared with a published case study of XP process model. It is reflected by detailed empirical analysis that the proposed SXP performed well as compared to traditional XP

Use of dark chocolate for diabetic patients: a review of the literature and current evidence

Dietary changes are a major lifestyle factor that can influence the progression of chronic diseases such as diabetes. Recently, flavanols, a subgroup of plant-derived phytochemicals called flavonoids, have gained increasing attention, due to studies showing an inverse correlation between dietary intake of flavanols and incidence of diabetes. Flavanoids in the cocoa plant may ameliorate insulin resistance by improving endothelial function, altering glucose metabolism, and reducing oxidative stress. Oxidative stress has been proposed as the main culprit for insulin resistance. The well-established effects of cocoa on endothelial function also points to a possible effect on insulin sensitivity. The relationship between insulin resistance and endothelial function is a reciprocal one. Overall, the evidence from these studies suggests that cocoa may be useful in slowing the progression to type 2 diabetes and ameliorating insulin resistance in metabolic syndrome. Additionally, results from several small studies indicate that cocoa may also have therapeutic potential in preventing cardiovascular complications in diabetic patients. Studies highlighting the potential of cocoa-containing diets, in large-randomized controlled trials should be performed which might give us a better opportunity to analyze the potential health-care benefit for reducing the risk of complications in diabetic patients at molecular level

Organizing pneumonia: An unusual sequela of COVID-19 infection

Organizing pneumonia (OP) is a form of interstitial lung disease that develops in response to acute lung injury. SARS-CoV-2 causes a wide range of lung and extrapulmonary disease, but there are few data suggesting an association between COVID-19 and OP. We describe a patient with COVID-19 pneumonia who developed severe progressive OP with significant morbidity. LEARNING POINTS: COVID-19 pneumonia is one of the secondary causes of organizing pneumonia (OP).Early initiation of steroids in OP is associated with improvement in symptoms and prognosis.A prolonged course of steroids may be needed in COVID-induced OP