198 research outputs found
Operational Risk in Both Conventional and Islamic Banking Perceptions: Differences and Similarities
While risks in conventional banks have been meticulously discussed in the literature, they remain a fresh research area in Islamic banks. In this context, operational risk has long been considered a simple part of āotherā risks outside the dominion of credit risk and market risk, before it made its way to the forefront of banking. In fact, with the rise and enlargement of the Islamic banking industry and its unique contractual features and legal environment, operational risk has become more wide-ranging in Islamic banks compared to conventional banks. In this sense, the following work aims to provide a comparison of operational risk perceptions in both conventional and Islamic banks, with the objective of determining the fundamental similarities and differences of this risk within each system, which can be seen as a boosting step meant to help creating a good risk management tactics in both banks. This work showed a difference regarding the two definitions of operational risk. It also demonstrated that the conventionnal and Islamic banking systems are similar while presenting some differences in terms of components and factors of opeational risk
Social Preferences and the Willingness to Pay for Preventative Health Care: Evidence from Field Experiments
This dissertation explores behavioral incentives generated by individuals making choices in peer group settings in order to assess whether these incentives can be harnessed towards improving peopleās willingness to invest in undersubscribed preventative health care products. The first chapter uses a randomized field experiment to explore whether increasing the visibility of individual choices to peer groups impacts willingness to pay for water treatment products, by triggering the desire to engage in socially desirable behavior in public. The second chapter uses a randomized field experiment to analyze if sequential decision making in peer group settings exerts an impact on individual willingness to pay for first-movers owing to leadership effects, and compares outcomes between randomly appointed, self-selected and natural leaders. The third chapter compares altruistic product subsidies - which can be shared with other individuals - against individual subsidies in generating greater take up of water treatment products, and assesses the likelihood of individuals selecting into altruistic subsidies if sorting out of these arrangements is allowed.PHDEconomicsUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/138530/1/salmak_1.pd
Academic Locus of Control of High and Low Achieving Students
The study investigated the academic locus of control of high and low achieving undergraduate students. It also explored the gender differences in terms of academic locus of control and the relationship between academic locus of control and academic achievement . Sample of the study consisted of 187 (126 high and 61 low) achieving BSc final year students. Independent group research design and purposive sampling technique was used in this study. Academic locus of control scale developed by Keywords: Academic achievers, internal academic locus of control, external academic locus of control and gender. Second Language (L2)
Les dĆ©terminants de lāexternalisation logistique et le dĆ©veloppement des plateformes logistiques : regards croisĆ©s sur la rĆ©gion de Casablanca-Settat
Dans un contexte de globalisation du commerce et dāeĢchanges, la logistique est devenue un facteur cleĢ de la compeĢtitiviteĢ dāune entreprise, dāun territoire ou dāun pays. Son roĢle est important dans le deĢveloppement et la facilitation du commerce, la creĢation de la valeur ajouteĢe et la dynamisation du marcheĢ dāemploi. Par ailleurs, le nombre croissant de prestataires aĢ solliciter font de la chaine logistique un ensemble complexe dont la conception ne peut sans doute sāenvisager que de manieĢre globale.
Ce papier est consacreĢ aĢ lāanalyse des deĢterminants de lāexternalisation logistique et le deĢveloppement des implantations logistiques, qui, en principe, doit eĢtre en forte correĢlation, car lāexternalisation logistique creĢe le marcheĢ de la prestation logistique (Carbone. V, 2004) Pour reĢpondre aĢ notre questionnement, une eĢtude a eĢteĢ meneĢe portant sur la reĢgion de Casablanca-Settat, premier poĢle eĢconomique et NÅud logistique du pays. Nous analysons la premieĢre piste aĢ travers la TheĢorie des CouĢts de Transaction et la theĢorie de la Ressource. Ces deux modeĢles constituent des soubassements theĢoriques des strateĢgies dāexternalisation des firmes.
De surcroit, nous avons pu relever durant la confrontation de notre revue litteĢrature une seĢrie dāhypotheĢses de recherche influencĢ§ant les deĢterminants de lāexternalisation logistique sur le deĢveloppement des plateformes logistiques et le marcheĢ des prestations logistiques
Personalized Quantification of Facial Normality using Artificial Intelligence
While congenital facial deformities are not rare, and surgeons typically perform operations to improve these deformities, currently the success of the surgical reconstruction operations can only be āmeasuredā subjectively by surgeons and specialists. No efficient objective mechanisms of comparing the outcomes of plastic reconstruction surgeries or the progress of different surgery techniques exist presently. The aim of this research project is to develop an efficient software application that can be used by plastic surgeons as an objective measurement tool for the success of an operation. The long-term vision is to develop a software application that is user-friendly and can be downloaded on a regular laptop and used by doctors and patients to assess the progress of their surgical reconstruction procedures. The application would work by first scanning a face before and after an operation and providing the surgeon with a normality score of the face from 0 to 3 where 3 represents normal and 0 represents extreme abnormality. A score will be given when the face is scanned before and after surgery. The difference between those scores is what we will call the delta. A high delta value would point to a high improvement in the normality of a face post-surgery, and a low delta value would indicate a small improvement. The first chapter of the thesis represents the introduction which describes the general aspects of the project. The second chapter presents the methodology employed for building the application and the existing solutions and proposed functional model structure. The results chapter presents the process behind collecting and labeling the image database and analyzes the scores produced by the program when fed with new images from the database. Finally, the last chapter of this thesis presents the conclusions. The list of references completes this work
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The relation between calcaneus stiffness index as a measure of bone density and body mass index in an Egyptian cohort
Background: Obesity and osteoporosis are two conditions that are associated with morbidity and mortality; there is contradictory evidence regarding this association.
Purpose: The aim of the current study was to explore further the association between obesity and calcaneus stiffness index (CSI), as a measure of bone density, in a community-based cross-sectional study in an Egyptian population.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among active subjects, aged ā„20 years old, over one year. CSI was measured by Quantitative ultrasound (QUS), in addition; QUS T-score and Z-score of the non-dominant heel scan were recorded.
Results: Two hundred and eighty participants were recruited; 7 subjects were excluded because of Z score more than ā2, mean age was 61 (Ā± 11.9) years, and mean BMI was 29.7 (Ā±5.6). Female participants were 77.7%, with mean of age 60.3 (Ā± 11.6); and age range 20ā82 years. Male participants were 22.3%, with mean of age 63.6 (Ā± 12.7); and age range 30ā80 years. Older subjects (>55 years) had significantly lower CSI and worse T-score than the younger subjects (P < 0.001 for both). In the younger age group, BMI was not significantly associated with CSI, even after adjustment for gender (P= 0.52). However, in the older age group, BMI was significantly associated with stiffness index (P= 0.049, O.R.= 1.73), even after adjustment for gender (P= 0.041, O.R.= 1.7).
Conclusion: Compared to young subjects, older subjects (ā„55 years) had significantly lower bone strength as measured by CSI, and their BMI was significantly positively associated with bone density. In younger people (<55 years), BMI was not associated with bone strength
Optimizing Ecotourism Management of Tajungkima Hamlet: A Study of Social Entrepreneurship and Islamic Sustainability
Ecotourism in Tajungkima Hamlet serves as a form of social entrepreneurship activity where the Tourism Awareness Group (Pokdarwis) and the local community jointly manage this freehold land to enhance the economy and promote shared prosperity. This research aims to provide a description and analysis of the optimization of Pokdarwis' role in ecotourism management with a social entrepreneurship approach, while also examining sustainability from an Islamic perspective. The study utilizes qualitative research methods with a descriptive system. Data collection techniques involve observation, interviews, and documentation. Data analysis includes reduction, presentation, and drawing conclusions. The findings reveal that the process of social entrepreneurship in the development of Somor-Somor Beach and Tanjung Ga'ang ecotourism contributes to a comprehensive understanding of Pokdarwis' role in ecotourism management through a social entrepreneurship approach. Additionally, it emphasizes the significance of integrating sustainability principles from an Islamic standpoint. The research emphasizes the importance of holistic and responsible practices that enhance societal socio-economic well-being while addressing environmental concerns. These insights can guide policymakers, local communities, and stakeholders in developing and promoting sustainable Ecotourism initiatives rooted in Islamic values
CHILDREN ON ANTI EPILEPTIC DRUGS HAVE LOW SERUM CALCIUM AND RAISED ALKALINE PHOSPHATASE LEVELS
Objective: Epilepsy is a common neurological disorder in children requiring long-term therapy using anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs). Chronic use of AEDs may impair bone health. This study aimed to determine the biochemical changes affecting bone metabolism in pediatric epileptic patients taking AEDs.Ā
Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Pediatrics of Benazir Bhutto Hospital, Rawalpindi from January 2019 to July 2019.āÆA total of 95 children were enrolled based on non-probability consecutive sampling technique. Bone metabolism was evaluated by measuring serum calcium and alkaline phosphatase levels in all the study participants. Data was entered on SPSS v 22 and descriptive statistics were applied.Ā
Results: Of 95 epileptic children, 50.53% (n=48) were male and 49.47% (n=47) were females taking AEDs (either carbamazepine, valproate sodium or phenobarbital), 47.37% (n=45) were between 2-6 years of age while 52.63% (n=50) were between 7-11 years of age (Mean age: 6.53Ā±2.54 years). Mean calcium and alkaline phosphatase levels of patients were calculated as 7.94Ā±2.3 mg/dl and 226.31Ā±17.45 IU/L respectively. Frequency of hypocalcemia in patients taking AEDs was recorded in 67.37% (n=64) and 81.05% (n=77) had raised alkaline phosphatase levels.Ā
Conclusion: This study concludes that frequency of hypocalcemia and raised alkaline phosphatase levels in patients taking AEDs is higher and needs attention to address this issue while the magnitude recorded in this study is primary in local population which needs to be re-assessed through multi-center trials.Ā
Automatic Detection of Moroccan Coastal Upwelling Zones using Sea Surface Temperature Images
International audienceAn efficient unsupervised method is developed for automatic segmentation of the area covered by upwelling waters in the coastal ocean of Morocco using the Sea Surface Temperature (SST) satellite images. The proposed approach first uses the two popular unsupervised clustering techniques, k-means and fuzzy c-means (FCM), to provide different possible classifications to each SST image. Then several cluster validity indices are combined in order to determine the optimal number of clusters, followed by a cluster fusion scheme, which merges consecutive clusters to produce a first segmentation of upwelling area. The region-growing algorithm is then used to filter noisy residuals and to extract the final upwelling region. The performance of our algorithm is compared to a popular algorithm used to detect upwelling regions and is validated by an oceanographer over a database of 92 SST images covering each week of the years 2006 and 2007. The results show that our proposed method outperforms the latter algorithm, in terms of segmentation accuracy and computational efficiency
Long non-coding RNAs and their targets as potential biomarkers in breast cancer.
Breast cancer is among the lethal types of cancer with a high mortality rate, globally. Its high prevalence can be controlled through improved analysis and identification of disease-specific biomarkers. Recently, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been reported as key contributors of carcinogenesis and regulate various cellular pathways through post-transcriptional regulatory mechanisms. The specific aim of this study was to identify the novel interactions of aberrantly expressed genetic components in breast cancer by applying integrative analysis of publicly available expression profiles of both lncRNAs and mRNAs. Differential expression patterns were identified by comparing the breast cancer expression profiles of samples with controls. Significant co-expression networks were identified through WGCNA analysis. WGCNA is a systems biology approach used to elucidate the pattern of correlation between genes across microarray samples. It is also used to identify the highly correlated modules. The results obtained from this study revealed significantly differentially expressed and co-expressed lncRNAs and their cis- and trans-regulating mRNA targets which include RP11-108F13.2 targeting TAF5L, RPL23AP2 targeting CYP4F3, CYP4F8 and AL022324.2 targeting LRP5L, AL022324.3, and Z99916.3, respectively. Moreover, pathway analysis revealed the involvement of identified mRNAs and lncRNAs in major cell signalling pathways, and target mRNAs expression is also validated through cohort data. Thus, the identified lncRNAs and their target mRNAs represent novel biomarkers that could serve as potential therapeutics for breast cancer and their roles could also be further validated through wet labs to employ them as potential therapeutic targets in future
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