An artificial intelligence and NLP based Islamic FinTech model combining Zakat and Qardh-Al-Hasan for countering the adverse impact of COVID 19 on SMEs and individuals

Pursose: The ongoing Corona virus (COVID 19) pandemic has already impacted almost everyone across the globe. The focus has now shifted from spread of the disease to the economic consequences it will bring to the society. The shortage of production will result into the shortage of supply and consequently will end as loss of jobs and employment for millions of people around the world. Two of the most important section of our society i.e., daily wage laborers and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) will have to bear the major burnt of this crisis. The proposed integrated Artificial Intelligence and NLP based Islamic FinTech Model combining Zakat (Islamic tax) and Qardh-Al-Hasan (benevolent loan) can help the economy to minimize the adverse impact of COVID 19 on individuals and SMEs. Design/Methodology/Approach: The present study explores the possibility of Zakat and Qardh-Al-Hasan as a financing method to fight the adverse impact of Corona virus on poor individuls and SMEs. It provides the solution by proposing an Artificial Intelligence and NLP based Islamic FinTech Model combining Zakat and Qardh-Al-Hasan. Findings: The findings of the study reveals that Islamic finance has immense potential to fight any kind of situation/pandemic. Zakat and Qardh-Al-Hasan, if combined together can prove to be a deadly combination to fight the adverse effect of COVID 19. Practical Implications: To be used as an effective way to support individuals and SMEs in the period during and after the pandemic of COVID 19. Originality/value: There is no study combining Zakat and Qardh Al-Hasan to fight the adverse effect of poor individuals and SMEs. The study will contribute massively to the existing literature and will help the government and civil societies in fighting the economic impact of COVID 19 on individuals and SMEs.peer-reviewe

Evaluation of the anxiolytic effect of Nepeta persica Boiss. in mice

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the anxiolytic effects of hydroalcoholic extract (HE) of Nepeta persica Boiss. (Lamiaceae) on the elevated plus-maze (EPM) model of anxiety. The extract of arial parts of the plant was administered intraperitoneally to male NMRI mice, at various doses, 30 min before behavioural evaluation. The HE extract of N. persica at the dose of 50 mg kg−1 significantly increased the percentage of time spent and percentage of arm entries in the open arms of the EPM. This dose of plant extract affected neither animal's locomotor activity nor ketamine-induced sleeping time. The 50 mg kg−1 dose of the plant extract seemed to be the optimal dose in producing the anxiolytic effects, lower or higher doses of the plant produce either sedative or stimulant effects. At 100 mg kg−1, the plant extract increased the locomotor activity. These results suggested that the extract of N. persica at dose of 50 mg kg−1 possess anxiolytic effect with less sedative and hypnotic effects than that of diazepam and causes a non-specific stimulation at 100 mg kg−1

Hunian. Rumah Betang (Agregasi Budaya. Alkimia Arsitektur Dayak Demi Fundamentalisme Arsitektur Nusantara)

Perang. Perang dunia satu dan dua telah memberikan berbagai macam efek negatif ke seluruh penjuru dunia dalam berbagai aspek. Salah satu aspeknya adalah budaya, dimana budaya luar memaksa masuk dan menggantikan budaya-budaya yang sudah ada, seperti yang telah diungkapkan oleh Rem koolhaas “in 1914, it made sense to talk about a ‘chinese' architecture, a ‘Swiss' architecture, an ‘Indian' architecture. one hundred years later, under the influence of wars, diverse political regimes, different states of development, national and International architectural movements, individual talents, friendships, random personal trajectories and technological developments, architectures that were once specific and local have become interchangeable and global. national identity has seemingly been sacrificed to modernity”. Sama halnya dengan Indonesia, arsitektur Nusantara telah dikorbankan demi komodernan. Lantas apakah seorang arsitek hanya akan tinggal diam melihat kasus ini? Untuk menangani kasus ini maka sudah tentu diperlukan sebuah upaya arsitektur untuk meresponnya. Sebuah percobaan melalui angan-angan “akan seperti apa arsitektur Nusantara (rumah betang) jika perang dunia satu dan dua tidak pernah terjadi?”, “akan seperti apa arsitektur Nusantara (rumah betang) jika budaya luar masuk dan ditanggapi dengan pemikiran kritis?”. Objek rancangan ini selain bertujuan untuk memvisualisasikan arsiektur Nusantara (rumah betang) sekaligus juga untuk mengembalikan identitas nasional dan fundamentalisme arsitektur nusantara, karena sejatinya kehilangan identitas nasional merupakan kekalahan terbesar yang dapat dialami oleh sebuah Negara

Redefining the Safe Third Country Exception of the Immigration and Nationality Act in the Wake of Trump

The U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act lays out when an asylum seeker has the right to apply for asylum in the United States. This right is not available, however, when an asylum seeker passes through a designated Safe Third Country. A Safe Third Country is an internationally used concept that, pursuant to an international agreement, requires refugees to seek asylum in the first safe country that they step foot in. As the Safe Third Country exception on the Immigration and Nationality Act stands now, there are no guidelines on how to evaluate whether a country is in fact safe. This allows for any presidential administration to subvert our commonsense notion of what safe is in an effort to reduce asylum claims and appear strong on immigration. Most recently, the Trump administration distorted the Safe Third Country Exception to that end. Drawing on Hungarian Law, Canadian Law, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, this note proposes that clear guidelines must be woven into the Safe Third Country Exception, so that the United States Attorney General can better determine if a country is in fact safe for asylum seekers. This would better prevent a presidential administration from subverting the idea of what a safe country is, while still allowing Safe Third Country agreements to be humane, effective, and diplomatic tools to distribute asylum claims

Effect of Rotary Blade Modification on Residue Retention into Conservation Agriculture Practices

Conservation Agriculture (CA) has been a promising technique for better crop production. Manual seeding with conventional tillage practice is laborious and time consuming. However, Strip tillage (ST) method incorporating seeding machines minimizes human drudgery and optimizes the crop yield. Many problems associated with ST have been rectified e.g. tiny furrow backfill, inaccuracy of seed and fertilizer placement, leading to poor germination and curtailed outcomes. This article focused on the effects of residue retention for the rotary blades design on a versatile multi-crop planter (VMP). Four types of rotary blades of VMP differed by 15o increment of tip angles were designed, fabricated, and experimented with a constant speed 350 RPM for ST operation targeting wheat and maize cultivation. Technical aspects related to the quality of strip i.e. width of furrow, depth of seed placement, moisture content, bulk density etc. were observed. Furthermore, the percentage of straw cut and seed emergence were visualized. From the observation, straw clogging was almost dissolved due to rotating action with the sharp edge of the new designed blades in front of the furrow openers. Soil cutting depth of strips and seed placement depth was consistent all over the field by the modified blades during wheat and maize sowing. The set of tip angle blades at 15 cm anchored rice residue shown the improved seed germination rate of 95.89% for wheat and 78.65% for maize. The investigation enables scope for adopting modified blade for better performance into CA practice

Dicarbonyl stress and beta-cell dysfunction

Methylglyoxal may be involved in the early stages of decline in glucose tolerance and decline in pancreatic beta-cell function leading to type 2 diabetes. Methylglyoxal and methylglyoxal-modified proteins increase during short-term increases in glucose concentration, infusion of exogenous methylglyoxal in rats and mice impaired glucose tolerance and glyoxalase 1 (Glo1) prevented beta-cell toxicity. We investigated the role of methylglyoxal and protein glycation on beta-cell function and the development of diabetes, with focus on the interactions of cells with the extracellular matrix. Impairments in adhesion of MIN6 insulinoma cells to methylglyoxal-glycated collagen IV were assessed in vitro using atomic force microscopy force spectroscopy and methylglyoxal glycation adducts within the pancreas visualised by immunostaining. Minimal glycation of collagen IV at integrin binding sites impaired binding of MIN6 cells in vitro and resulted in a 91% decrease in the energy necessary to detach the cells from collagen. Evidence from high fat diet fed mice showed that the methylglyoxal concentration of the pancreas was increased in the insulin resistant, pre-diabetic state with methylglyoxal-derived glycation adducts within the pancreas predominantly localised to the extracellular matrix in vivo. We conclude that glycation of extracellular matrix collagen IV likely impairs adhesion of beta-cells to the extracellular matrix in pre-diabetes in vivo and may thereby contribute to beta-cell glucotoxicity and dysfunction with progression to type 2 diabetes mellitus

The global financial crisis impact on stock market efficiency:a Fourier unit root tests analysis

This study investigates how the Global Financial Crisis has affected the weak-form Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) on the stock prices of sixteen nations throughout the globe based on a suite of Fourier unit root tests. Considering the smooth structural breaks, we employed the Fourier-based unit root tests to assess the weak-form efficient market hypothesis. We used multiple frequency datasets of global financial stock market indexes that span over 20 years to have comprehensive analysis and robustness in the results. The study is performed from distinct sub-sample periods of the global financial crisis, including the pre-crisis period (2000–2007), the crisis and post-crisis period (2008–2020), and the overall sample period (2000–2020). We observed seven stock markets in the total sample period and twelve in the pre-crisis period, which were weak-form efficient across different frequency data sets. During the crisis and post-crisis period, just four out of sixteen stock market indexes were found to be weak in efficiency based on Fourier unit root tests. Given the superior properties of the Fourier unit root tests, this study reiterates that investors may receive a stream of arbitrage benefits in all markets due to the inefficiency of these countries. We offer investment implications that enable forecasting future stock price changes based on past performance and creating trading methods that produce anomalous profits.</p

Adsorption studies of non-ionic surfactants at different vegetable oil-water interfaces

The adsorption studies of non-ionic surfactants (tween 20, tween 40 and tween 80) were conducted at olive oil-water, sunflower oil-water and corn oil-water interfaces by ring detachment method with a du Nouy Tensiometer at 20 °C. A decrease in interfacial tension with an increase in surfactant concentration was observed at all the oil-water interfaces under investigation. Surface excess was calculated from Gibb’s equation while area per molecule was computed from surface excess. Surface pressure-area curves were plotted to study the states of films formed. On close examination of π-A graphs, it was indicated that all the graphs have three distinct parts. The extreme left portion (a) of the graphs represents condensed state, called solid film region, the curved region (b) of the π-A graphs corresponds to liquid film region, while the gaseous film region (c) is indicated by the shallow right hand part of the curves. The solid film region was more prominent in corn oil-water system while a more distinct gaseous film region was observed in olive oil-water system than in other oil-water systems studied. However, liquid film region was observed in all the systems investigated. The observed difference in the behaviour of surfactants at different vegetable oil-water interfaces could be attributed to the difference in types of interacting forces between the surfactant molecules and various vegetable oil phasesColegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire