Multi-GCN: Graph Convolutional Networks for Multi-View Networks, with Applications to Global Poverty

With the rapid expansion of mobile phone networks in developing countries, large-scale graph machine learning has gained sudden relevance in the study of global poverty. Recent applications range from humanitarian response and poverty estimation to urban planning and epidemic containment. Yet the vast majority of computational tools and algorithms used in these applications do not account for the multi-view nature of social networks: people are related in myriad ways, but most graph learning models treat relations as binary. In this paper, we develop a graph-based convolutional network for learning on multi-view networks. We show that this method outperforms state-of-the-art semi-supervised learning algorithms on three different prediction tasks using mobile phone datasets from three different developing countries. We also show that, while designed specifically for use in poverty research, the algorithm also outperforms existing benchmarks on a broader set of learning tasks on multi-view networks, including node labelling in citation networks

FinTech, blockchain and Islamic finance : an extensive literature review

Purpose: The paper aims to review the academic research work done in the area of Islamic financial technology. The Islamic FinTech area has been classified into three broad categories of the Islamic FinTech, Islamic Financial technology opportunities and challenges, Cryptocurrency/Blockchain sharia compliance and law/regulation. Finally, the study identifies and highlights the opportunities and challenges that Islamic Financial institutions can learn from the conventional FinTech organization across the world. Approach/Methodology/Design: The study collected 133 research studies (50 from Social Science Research Network (SSRN), 30 from Research gate, 33 from Google Scholar and 20 from other sources) in the area of Islamic Financial Technology. The study presents the systematic review of the above studies. Findings: The study classifies the Islamic FinTech into three broad categories namely, Islamic FinTech opportunities and challenges, Cryptocurrency/Blockchain sharia compliance and law/regulation. The study identifies that the sharia compliance related to the cryptocurrency/Blockchain is the biggest challenge which Islamic FinTech organizations are facing. During our review we also find that Islamic FinTech organizations are to be considered as partners by the Islamic Financial Institutions (IFI’s) than the competitors. If Islamic Financial institutions want to increase efficiency, transparency and customer satisfaction they have to adopt FinTech and become partners with the FinTech companies. Practical Implications: The study will contribute positively to the understanding of Islamic Fintech for the academia, industry, regulators, investors and other FinTech users. Originality/Value: The study believes to contribute positively to understanding of Fintech based technology like cryptocurrency/Blockchain from sharia perspective.peer-reviewe

A high-performance communication topology for decentralized protocols

Preserving transaction atomicity and ensuring its commitment is key to the maintenance of data integrity in a distributed database. The distributed consensus protocol is a prominent example of a mechanism used to accomplish safe commitment of a distributed transaction. These protocols are based primarily on repeated message exchange among all sites/nodes and their performance is characterized not only by the number of these messages but also by the underlying communication topology. This thesis proposes a measure of performance known as average message complexity and proposes a communication structure based on folded even graphs called the Folded Even Network (FEN). Performance of FEN is compared to other known structures and is shown to outperform them for various values of the number of nodes in the network. It is also shown that large topologies can be generated by connecting multiple FENs together. The expanded structure is also shown to have the same complexity as a single FEN

Understanding Poverty through the Eyes of Lowsalaried Government Employees: A Case Study of the NED University of Engineering and Technology

The last few decades have witnessed a significant shift in the concept of development. Research focusing on development has shifted its focus from macroeconomic to more microeconomic development. More recently, poverty has become an important interest area for researchers, governments, United Nations agencies, NGOs and some specialised international development agencies. The United Nations has designated the period 1997-2006 as the decade for poverty eradication [World Summit for Social Development (1995)]. The millennium meeting at the United Nations headquarters and its follow-up meeting at Brussels set up on ambitious target for reducing poverty by half by the year 2015. [Altaf (2004)]. Since the overall objective is “human development,” people are presumed to play a major role in assuming the initiative, management of, and control over resources, as well as the setting of priorities for poverty reduction. The translation of this idea into reality necessitates the investigation of people’s understanding and experiences of poverty and adjustment to, or coping with, chaotic socio-economic situations and catastrophes (both human and natural), be they food insecurity, hunger, famine outbreaks, or poverty. Some of these crises, in many cases, are not occasional occurrences; rather they are the consequences of long term processes, especially poverty, which is caused by a combination of interacting factors related to social, economic, political, and natural dimensions [Abdel (1996)]

Assessment of Groundwater Quality in the Al Khatim and Remah Area of the United Arab Emirates

Groundwater constitutes an important part of the available water resources in arid areas. Knowledge of the quantitative and qualitative status of groundwater is a key aspect in optimal groundwater management. The chemical characteristics of groundwater in two neighboring areas (Remah and Al Khatim) have been used to identify the processes controlling groundwater chemistry in the sand aquifer of Abu Dhabi Emirate, United Arab Emirates. Furthermore, the suitability of the groundwater for agricultural purposes was assessed using a range of indices. Both areas showed elevated levels of nitrate, potassium and cadmium, indicating the impact of agricultural activities. The groundwater was found to be unfit for agricultural purposes as explained by the agricultural indices. Radon causes lung cancer when inhaled or ingested in higher concentration. The radioactive study of Radon-222 showed its concentration below the WHO permissible guidelines. However, considering that groundwater is the only available water source for irrigation, it will continue to be used for agriculture. This study therefore provides valuable technical support for farmers, decision makers and other stakeholders to develop strategies for sustainable groundwater development in the context of food security

Post-residency fellowship training in maxillofacial prosthetics is needed in Pakistan

Objective: To determine the spectrum of maxillofacial prosthetics services in Pakistan, to explore the need of a relevant fellowship training programme in the country, and to determine whether they contribute to tumour board of head and neck oncology.Methods: The cross-sectional online survey was conducted from March to June 2020 and comprised all prosthodontists registered on the portal of the Pakistan Prosthodontics Association. Using Google Forms, the survey questionnaire was sent via email. The survey form was self-generated. Data was analysed using SPSS 23.Results: Of the 84 prosthodontists approached, 44(52.4%) responded. The overall median age was 39 years (range: 30-60 years), and 34(77.3%) subjects were males. Overall, 19(43.2%) subjects were from Punjab, 14(31.8%) Sindh, 6(13.6%) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and 5(11.4%) Islamabad. None of the participants had received any formal accredited training in maxillofacial prosthetics. Although 37(84.1%) respondents reported providing maxillofacial prosthetics services to their patients as they had learnt it during their prosthodontics residency. Only 3(6.8%) respondents were contributing to head and neck tumour board. An overwhelming majority 42(95.5%) stressed the need of structured training programmes in maxillofacial prosthetics.Conclusions: There is no accredited maxillofacial prosthetics training centre and an obvious lack of prosthodontists with formal training in the professional area. The participation of prosthodontists in the head and neck tumour board was negligible