The Islamic Legal System in Malaysia

This article describes the historical evolution and the current structure of the Islamic legal system in Malaysia. The structure of the modern Malaysian state has its roots in the region’s colonial history. By the end of the nineteenth century the territory that comprises contemporary Malaysia had been subjected to British colonial authority. The British did not, however, rule the region as a single colonial unit. In the directly ruled colonies most matters were governed by English common law, and while Islamic doctrine governed family law, it was applied by colonial courts that were staffed by British or British-trained judges. In the colonies subject to indirect rule an English resident exercised authority over matters of British interest while Malay sultans retained their hereditary titles, and local courts exercised the sultan’s authority in matters of Malay adat (custom) and Islam. When the state of Malaysia was created in 1957, the constitution established a federal structure that reflected the pluralistic colonial system. Malaysia is currently comprised of 13 states and three federal territories. Under the constitution, most areas of life are governed by a uniform body of federal law applied by a system of national courts. However, the constitution grants the states the power to apply a version of Islamic law on certain topics enumerated in the constitution, and to create Shari‛a courts to adjudicate disputes involving Muslims relating to matters of Islamic law. The subjects included within the states’ legislative power include, in addition to personal law and matters related to religious practice, offenses deemed to be against the precepts of Islam. All of the states have exercised the powers granted by the constitution to legislate on matters related to Islam, and every state has established Shari‛a courts to adjudicate disputes based on Islamic legislation. A constitutional amendment approved in 1988 eliminated the power of civil courts to hear appeals from decisions of the Syariah courts. At the same time that they are achieving greater autonomy, the Shari‛a courts are also seeking to “upgrade” in ways that emulate the civil courts

Social Networking Individual vs. Crowd Behavior (Connected Intelligence)

The study of Human behavior is much more complicated in various situations, especially on the spectrum of Social Networks. The study of individual behavior cannot be replicated for a group/crowd behavior which can have many social and behavioral dimensions. In the connected world where intelligence is shared among individuals and groups, there exists another kind of complexity which needs to be examined.The complexity of human behaviors as an individual or as a group on the social networks is much more versatile and erratic. The research work studies and analyzes these behaviors in a connected networked intelligent environment and as to how these behaviors are reflected towards Connected Intelligence. Consequently it defines how they can affect the intelligent analytical outcomes. Finally it comes up with a generic model which can be applied in any setup

Traumatic Tympanic Membrane perforation: An aetiological profile

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Traumatic perforation of the tympanic membrane may be due to direct or indirect source. The aim of the study is to profile the various aetiologies of traumatic tympanic membrane perforation in Ilorin, north central Nigeria.</p> <p>A retrospective review of 64 patients seen at the University of Ilorin Teaching hospital, Ilorin, Nigeria over a ten year period (January 1998 to Dec 2007) with history of traumatic tympanic membrane perforation from various causes, these also included multiply injured patients with bleeding from middle ear as part of their presentations. The data retrieved included the biodata, the clinical presentations, source of injury, the clinical findings and the treatment outcome. The data were entered into an SPSS version 11 computer soft ware and analyzed descriptively.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>Sixty four (64) ears were analysed, Age range 6 months to 50 yrs, mean age of 29.2 yrs 7.9% of them were ≤5 years, 29.7% between 21-34 years, and 37.7% were 35 years and above. The male to female ratio was 2.5:1.0. Commonest aetiology was from slaps, then road traffic injury (RTI) in 35.9% and 23.5%, Majority of the slap injury were from fights (30.5%), security agents, senior students and cultists at schools (17.4% each). Sudden hearing loss was a typical presentation (95.3%), majority of the patient defaulted from follow up once the symptoms of bleeding and pain subsided. Only 7.8% had neomembrane formation on follow up</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Traumatic perforation of the tympanic membrane is an uncommon injury that is under-reported, there is the need to educate on alternative punitive measure among students and security agents, unskilled removal of foreign body, early identification, evaluation and referral of patients reduces the attendant morbidity.</p

Band gap engineering for improved photocatalytic performance of CuS/TiO2 composites under solar light irradiation

ABSTRACT. Nanoparticles of CuS, TiO2 and CuS/TiO2 composites were prepared by template free hydrothermal method. Prepared nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and electron dispersive X-ray spectroscopy to confirm the formation of nanoparticles. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) was applied to investigate the morphology and particle size of the nanoparticles which were measured in the range of 30–40 nm. Photocatalytic performance of CuS, TiO2 and Cus/TiO2 were measured by degradation of methyl orange (MO) under solar light irradiation. Coupling of n-type TiO2 (3.2 eV) with p-type CuS (1.9 eV) showed efficient degradation of the contaminants under the solar light irradiation. Photocatalytic performance of CuS/TiO2 composite improves 1.4 times than CuS for the degradation of methyl orange (MO) under solar light irradiation.               KEY WORDS: CuS/TiO2 composites, Photocatalytic performance, Hydrothermal growth, Solar light, Irradiation Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2019, 33(3), 561-571.        DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v33i3.1

Trustworthy Federated Learning: A Survey

Federated Learning (FL) has emerged as a significant advancement in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI), enabling collaborative model training across distributed devices while maintaining data privacy. As the importance of FL increases, addressing trustworthiness issues in its various aspects becomes crucial. In this survey, we provide an extensive overview of the current state of Trustworthy FL, exploring existing solutions and well-defined pillars relevant to Trustworthy . Despite the growth in literature on trustworthy centralized Machine Learning (ML)/Deep Learning (DL), further efforts are necessary to identify trustworthiness pillars and evaluation metrics specific to FL models, as well as to develop solutions for computing trustworthiness levels. We propose a taxonomy that encompasses three main pillars: Interpretability, Fairness, and Security & Privacy. Each pillar represents a dimension of trust, further broken down into different notions. Our survey covers trustworthiness challenges at every level in FL settings. We present a comprehensive architecture of Trustworthy FL, addressing the fundamental principles underlying the concept, and offer an in-depth analysis of trust assessment mechanisms. In conclusion, we identify key research challenges related to every aspect of Trustworthy FL and suggest future research directions. This comprehensive survey serves as a valuable resource for researchers and practitioners working on the development and implementation of Trustworthy FL systems, contributing to a more secure and reliable AI landscape.Comment: 45 Pages, 8 Figures, 9 Table

Characterization of Baruten Local Government Area of Kwara State (Nigeria) fireclays as suitable refractory materials

Studies have shown that adequate attention needs to be paid on processing of solid minerals that are potentially available in Nigeria to address its economic problem. Clays from five major towns in Baruten Local Government Area, Kwara State, Nigeria were examined using ASTM guidelines to determine their suitability for refractory applications. The clay samples were classified as Alumino-Silicate refractories due to high values of Al2O3 and SiO2. The results showed apparent porosity (19.4-25.6%), bulk density (1.83-1.90 g/cm3), cold crushing strength (38.7-56.1 N/mm2), linear shrinkage (4.4 – 9.3%), clay contents (52.71-67.83%), moisture content (17.0-23.6%), permeability (68-82 cmsec-1), plasticity (16.7-30.4%), refractoriness (&gt;1300oC) and Thermal Shock Resistance (23-25 cycles) for the clay samples, which were measurable with the established standards for fireclays, refractory clays/brick lining or alumina-silicates and kaolin. Hence, the natural clays could suitably replace imported clays in some refractory applications. Appropriate use of information from this study would improve Nigeria’s industrialization and economic diversification.Keywords: Apparent Porosity, Bulk Density, Clay, Shrinkage and Refractor

There Is Selective Increase in Pro-thrombotic Circulating Extracellular Vesicles in Acute Ischemic Stroke and Transient Ischemic Attack: A Study of Patients From the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

Stroke attacks were found to be present at a younger age in patients from Southeast Asia (SE) and the Middle East (ME) resident in the state of Qatar. Extracellular vesicles (EVs), which are small membrane vesicles with pro-thrombotic properties, may contribute to the high risk of stroke in this population. Thus, total and cell-specific medium size EVs were counted by flow cytometry in platelet-free plasma from healthy volunteers and patients with transient ischemic attacks (TIA) and acute ischemic stroke (AIS) from SE and ME. Acutely, within 48 h of attacks, there was an increase in total endothelial EVs in TIA (6.73 ± 1.77; = 0.0156; = 21) and AIS (11.23 ± 1.95; = 0.0007; = 66) patients compared to controls (2.04 ± 0.78; = 24). Similar increases were also evident in EVs originating from platelets, erythrocytes, granulocytes, and leukocytes. Compared to controls, there was also an increase in EVs derived from activated endothelial cells, platelets, granulocytes, leukocytes, and pro-coagulant EVs (Annexin V) at 5 and 30-days following the acute events, while a decrease was observed in erythrocyte-derived EVs. This is the first study characterizing EVs in TIA and AIS patients from ME and SE showing an increase in EVs associated with endothelial and platelet cell activation, which may contribute to the elevated risk of stroke at a younger age in this population.Qatar University high collaborative grant (QUCG-CPH-2018\2019-2