Investigation of Household Debt through Multilevel Multivariate Analysis: Case of a Developing Country

This study focuses on investigating the relationships between different socioeconomic and demographic characteristics and households’ debt decision and demand. We used six survey rounds of data from Pakistan household integrated expenditure survey (HIES) 2001 to 2014. HIES is a nationally representative data collected by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. Multilevel models were used to investigate the relationship in which the data on households was nested in primary sampling units (PSUs) and PSUs were nested in provinces. The decision of taking household debt varies 22% at PSU level and 18% at provincial level due to unobserved variables. We found that households having higher financial assets, higher income and larger household sizes tend to have a higher percentage of debt. The amount of debt also increases with education and age. In the case of demand for debt, the variation is 12% at the provincial level. Literature studying household debt decision in Pakistan often ignore the geographical differences (region/province specific studies). Considering socioeconomic characteristics habituating the usage of credit is of countless importance in guiding policy design and interventions that aim to improve financial inclusion

Adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system for predicting alpha band power of EEG during muslim prayer (SALAT)

The features of electroencephalographic (EEG) signals include important information about the function of the brain. One of the most common EEG signal features is alpha wave, which is indicative of relaxation or mental inactivity. Until now, the analysis and the feature extraction procedures of these signals have not been well developed. This study presents a new approach based on an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) for extracting and predicting the alpha power band of EEG signals during Muslim prayer (Salat). Proposed models can acquire information related to the alpha power variations during Salat from other physiological parameters such as heart rate variability (HRV) components, heart rate (HR), and respiration rate (RSP). The models were developed by systematically optimizing the initial ANFIS model parameters. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were performed to evaluate the performance of the optimized ANFIS models. Overall prediction accuracy of the proposed models were achieved of 94.39%, 92.89%, 93.62%, and 94.31% for the alpha power of electrodes positions at O1, O2, P3, and P4, respectively. These models demonstrated many advantages, including e±ciency, accuracy, and simplicity. Thus, ANFIS could be considered as a suitable tool for dealing with complex and nonlinear prediction problems.This research was supported and funded by the Prime Minister's Department, Malaysia (project no. 66-02-03- 0061/H-00000-3703), and University of Malaya, through a postgraduate grant (PS107-2010A)

Effect of Muslim Prayer (Salat) on a Electroencephalography and Its Relationship with Autonomic Nervous System Activity

Objectives: This study investigated the effect of Muslim prayer (salat) on the a relative power (RPa) of electroencephalography (EEG) and autonomic nervous activity and the relationship between them by using spectral analysis of EEG and heart rate variability (HRV). Methods: Thirty healthy Muslim men participated in the study. Their electrocardiograms and EEGs were continuously recorded before, during, and after salat practice with a computer-based data acquisition system (MP150, BIOPAC Systems Inc., Camino Goleta, California). Power spectral analysis was conducted to extract the RPa and HRV components. Results: During salat, a significant increase ( p < .05) was observed in the mean RPa in the occipital and parietal regions and in the normalized unit of high-frequency (nuHF) power of HRV (as a parasympathetic index). Meanwhile, the normalized unit of low-frequency (nuLF) power and LF/HF of HRV (as sympathetic indices) decreased according to HRV analyses. RPa showed a significant positive correlation in the occipital and parietal electrodes with nuHF and significant negative correlations with nuLF and LF/HF. Conclusions: During salat, parasympathetic activity increased and sympathetic activity decreased. Therefore, regular salat practices may help promote relaxation, minimize anxiety, and reduce cardiovascular risk.This research was supported and funded by the Prime Minister’s Department, Malaysia (project no. 66-02-03- 0061/H-00000-3703), and University of Malaya, through a postgraduate grant (PS107-2010A)

The Impact Of "Learning Skills For Open And Distance Learners" Course On Learner Attitudes Towards E-Learning

This study compares the attitudes towards e-learning between a group of undergraduate inservice teachers in Open University Malaysia (OUM) who have undertaken the Learning Skills for Open and Distance Learners' Course and those who have not. Awareness of learner attitudes toward e-learning is a critical factor in enhancing the acceptance of e-learning, as well as in understanding current learner behavior in an online environment. The survey questionnaire consists of a five-point Likert-type attitude scale comprising of 40 positive statements, factoranalyzed into five dimensions. Mann-Whitney U tests were used to identify significant differences in each item among two different groups of learners. The scales were then converted to scores so that the overall score for each dimension is the sum of the scores of items in the dimension. The study then used t-tests to investigate the difference in the overall scores of each dimension between the two groups of learners. The results of the study indicate that the �Learning Skills for Open and Distance Learners� Course at OUM does have a positive impact on the attitude of learners towards e-learning. However, general attitude is somewhat neutral. The implications of the results of this study are discussed, particularly in relation to the LSODL course and possible modifications/additional features that need to be built in so as to further improve e-learning use amongst learners. (Authors' abstract

Effect of Muslim Prayer (Salat) on a Electroencephalography and Its Relationship with Autonomic Nervous System Activity

Abstract Objectives: This study investigated the effect of Muslim prayer (salat) on the a relative power (RPa) of electroencephalography (EEG) and autonomic nervous activity and the relationship between them by using spectral analysis of EEG and heart rate variability (HRV). Methods: Thirty healthy Muslim men participated in the study. Their electrocardiograms and EEGs were continuously recorded before, during, and after salat practice with a computer-based data acquisition system (MP150

Statistical Methods Used to Test for Agreement of Medical Instruments Measuring Continuous Variables in Method Comparison Studies: A Systematic Review

BACKGROUND: Accurate values are a must in medicine. An important parameter in determining the quality of a medical instrument is agreement with a gold standard. Various statistical methods have been used to test for agreement. Some of these methods have been shown to be inappropriate. This can result in misleading conclusions about the validity of an instrument. The Bland-Altman method is the most popular method judging by the many citations of the article proposing this method. However, the number of citations does not necessarily mean that this method has been applied in agreement research. No previous study has been conducted to look into this. This is the first systematic review to identify statistical methods used to test for agreement of medical instruments. The proportion of various statistical methods found in this review will also reflect the proportion of medical instruments that have been validated using those particular methods in current clinical practice. METHODOLOGY/FINDINGS: Five electronic databases were searched between 2007 and 2009 to look for agreement studies. A total of 3,260 titles were initially identified. Only 412 titles were potentially related, and finally 210 fitted the inclusion criteria. The Bland-Altman method is the most popular method with 178 (85%) studies having used this method, followed by the correlation coefficient (27%) and means comparison (18%). Some of the inappropriate methods highlighted by Altman and Bland since the 1980s are still in use. CONCLUSIONS: This study finds that the Bland-Altman method is the most popular method used in agreement research. There are still inappropriate applications of statistical methods in some studies. It is important for a clinician or medical researcher to be aware of this issue because misleading conclusions from inappropriate analyses will jeopardize the quality of the evidence, which in turn will influence quality of care given to patients in the future

Identifying the Components of Social Capital by Categorical Principal Component Analysis (CATPCA)

Social capital is a promising concept, widely used by social science researchers in analysing factors that contribute to the persistence of various economic issues. Unfortunately, the search for the best way to define, measure and classify the appropriate components that constitute this intangible form of capital is far from complete. Generally, data on social capital are qualitative in nature (mostly of the nominal and ordinal types) and encompass a large number of variables. This challenges the researcher to find the best way to reduce these data to a small number of composites to be used as a proxy of measurement in further analysis. Although principal component analysis (PCA) is considered an appropriate method and has been widely adopted in past studies, the requirement that data must be at the numeric measurement level, as well as the assumptions of linear relationships between variables, might hinder the use of PCA in working with social capital data. Categorical principal component analysis (CATPCA) is a more flexible alternative, suitable for variables of mixed measurement levels (nominal, ordinal, and numeric) that may not be linearly related to each other. Based on theory and past studies, questionnaires have been constructed and fieldwork has been carried out to gather data on social capital in Malaysia. Later, using CATPCA, 42 potential variables were identified to represent components of social capital. Final results indicate that after withdrawing 9 variables with bad fits, CATPCA has categorized the balance of 33 variables into four dimensions of social capital. These dimensions can be described by 5 principal components, which have been identified as influence of spirituality and culture, benefits from interaction with friend, trusted person during financial difficulties, benefits from financial aid receive and benefits from involvement in association. The first component represents culture/spirituality, the new dimension created by this study to address social capital from the perspective of a developing country. The second, third, fourth and fifth components are in line with the consensus reached by scholars and advocates regarding the elements or components of social capital. The second and fifth actually fall under the rubrics of the social relation/networks dimension while the third and fourth under trust and norms. © 2018, Springer Science+Business Media B.V., part of Springer Nature