Perception toward islamic and conventional banking among educated people in muslim community: a study based Akkaraipattu division in Ampara district

The one of prominent industries worldwide is banking. In the context of Sri Lanka, above 25 licensed commercial banking institutions consist both Islamic and conventional banking play major role in economy under regulatory, Central bank of Sri Lanka. Among the multi religious society of Sri Lanka, the Islamic institution was launched in 1995 and the first Islamic banking institution was established in 2008 that is having rapid growth year by year. As a minority people in Sri Lanka, there is a need to find out the perceptions of Muslims about this prominent industry. This study was examined the real perception among educated Muslim people of Ampara district which have maximum number of Muslim minority. And had a study about perception on Islamic and conventional banking. Quantitative method was carried out which include only questionnaire data material. The population for this study considers the all educated people in Muslim community of Akkaraipattu of Ampara district. A sample random sampling technique was used to select the responses survived for this study for the data analysis.in this study covered perception on usage of conventional and Islamic banking facilities ,knowledge of the Islamic banking system, potentiality of Islamic banking and affective(feelings) of Islamic banking

Antiplasmodial Activity shown by Secondary Metabolites Extracted from the Seeds ofPentaclethramacrophyllaBenth

Oil extracts from the African oil bean seed (PentaclethramacrophyllaBenth.) was analyzed for its phytochemical and mineral content and proximate, physicochemical and antimicrobial analyses were also performed. Phytochemical analysis showed the presence of tannins, saponins, quinones, terpenoids, phenols and coumarins in the oil sample. Mineral determination of the cotyledon showed the presence of iron (Fe) (with the highest concentration), Cu, Zn, Mn, Cr, Pb and Cd; while proximate analysis gave the following result: moisture (14.2%), ash content (1.5%), crude fibre (4.9%), crude proteins (12.8%), oil contents (4.9%), and carbohydrate (61.8%). GC-MS analysis of the partitioned petroleum ether and chloroform fractions of the oil revealed the presence of 9-Octadecenoic acid, 9,12- Octadecadienoic acid and their methyl esters,cis-9-Hexadecenal among the many components of the oil extract. Physicochemical analysis of the oil indicateda saponification value (148.67 mg KOH/g), peroxide value(8.0 meq/g), iodine value (10.41 mg iodine/g) and free fatty acid (8.98 mg KOH/g). The need for the development of new drugs for malaria led to our study of the antiplasmodial activity of the oil from the seeds of Pentaclethramacrophylla. Toxicological studies were carried out to determine the LD50with chloroquinediphosphate as positive control and normal saline as negative control. Using the Peter’s 4 day suppressive test a parasite inhibition rate of 47.72% (25 mg/kg), 63.63% (50 mg/kg) and 61.36% (100 mg/kg) on day 4 after treatment was recorded. A 95.45% chemo-suppression was observed for animals treated with 10 mg/kg chloroquine. This resultis an indication that the extract had appreciable signs of chemosuppression

Effects of PKCα activation on Ca2+ pump and K(Ca) channel in deoxygenated sickle cells

We have previously shown that a pretreatment with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA), an activator of protein kinase C (PKC), reduced deoxygenation-induced K+ loss and Ca2+ uptake and prevented call dehydration in sickle anemia red blood cells (SS cells) (H. Fathallah, E. Coezy, R.-S. De Neef, M.-D. Hardy-Dessources, and F. Giraud. Blood 86: 1999- 2007, 1995). The present study explores the detailed mechanism of this PMA- induced inhibition. The main findings are, first, the detection of PKCα PKCζ in normal red blood cells and the demonstration that both isoforms are expressed at higher levels in SS cells. The α-isoform only is translocated to the membrane and activated by PMA and by elevation of cytosolic Ca2+. Second, PMA is demonstrated to activate Ca2+ efflux in deoxygenated SS cells by a direct stimulation of the Ca2+ pump. PMA, moreover, inhibits deoxygenation-induced, charybdotoxin-sensitive K+ efflux in SS cells. This inhibition is partly indirect and explained by the reduc

Adiposity is a confounding factor which largely explains the association of serum vitamin D concentrations with C-reactive protein, leptin and adiponectin

Objective: The role of adiposity in the relationship between vitamin D and inflammation is unknown. Our aim was therefore to assess the association of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) with C-reactive protein (CRP), leptin and adiponectin and the role of adiposity in this relationship. Methods: This is a cross-sectional analysis of The Netherlands Epidemiology of Obesity Study (NEO), a population-based cohort study in men and women aged 45 to 65 years. Main outcome measures were CRP, leptin and adiponectin. In the linear regression analyses we adjusted for age, sex, ethnicity, creatinine, education, alcohol use, smoking status, physical activity, number of chronic diseases, season, total body fat and waist circumference. Results: Of the 6287 participants, 21% were vitamin D deficient (serum 25(OH)D < 50 nmol/L). Mean (SD) age and BMI were 56 (6) years and 26.3 (4.4) kg/m2, respectively. Although after adjustment for most examined potential confounders, each 10 nmol/L increase in serum 25(OH)D was associated with 2.3% (95%CI: −4.0 to −0.5) lower CRP, 3.5% (−4.7 to −2.2) lower leptin, and 0.13 ng/mL (0.04–0.21) higher adiponectin, most of these associations seemed to largely stem from an additional potential confounder – adiposity – as they either disappeared (leptin and CRP) or were largely diminished (adiponectin) upon further adjustment for adiposity indices (total body fat and waist circumference). Conclusion: We found that measures of adiposity largely explained the negative association of serum 25(OH)D with the pro-inflammatory CRP and leptin, and the positive association with the anti-inflammatory adiponectin. These results suggest that future studies should take the effect of adiposity into account

COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts on the environment: A global perspective

Many researchers worldwide have focused on the health impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic without paying much emphasis to the environmental impacts associated with the pandemic. Evidence suggests that prior to the pandemic there was an alarming increase in environmental pollution due to rising industrialization, in particular in urban areas. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, satellite data over Asia and Europe showed a substantial decrease in air pollution, in particular nitrogen dioxide. However, the increase in industrial and household wastes may pose a significant challenge to  environmental management. The improper management of these wastes poses an unforeseen “knock-on” effect on human health and the environment. It is imperative to establish an effective and safe procedure, for handling and disposing of the consequential wastes accumulating during the pandemic. The  review aims to highlight both the beneficial and detrimental effects of COVID-19 pandemic on the natural environment and  to discuss the possible strategies to improve the quality of the global environment during the period of the pandemic and beyond