2,836 research outputs found
The structure under the Warramunga seismic array: a study of Rayleigh wave near surface dispersion
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A Primer on Islamic Finance: Definitions, Sources, Principles and Methods
Islamic finance is one of the most rapidly growing segments of the global financial system. However, despite the increasing importance of Islamic finance, particularly in developing economies in the Middle East and South-East Asia, religious and social complexity has acted against a fuller understanding by regulators, policymakers, researchers and practitioners. This paper provides a succinct and accessible analysis of the definition, sources, principles and methods of Islamic finance. This serves as a suitable starting point for further work into Islamic finance and many of the pressing regulatory, supervisory and competitive issues that remain as yet unaddressed
An Empirical Survey of Individual Consumer, Business Firm and Financial Institution Attitudes towards Islamic Methods
Islamic finance – financial institutions, products and services designed to comply with the central tenets of Sharia (Islamic law) – is one of the most rapidly growing segments in global financial services. However, despite its growing importance, it is only relatively recently that attempts have been made to evaluate the attitudes, perceptions and knowledge of current and potential consumers and providers of Islamic financial products and services. This article provides a synoptic survey of the comparatively few empirical analyses of attitudes, perceptions and knowledge of Islamic finance. Individual consumer, business firm and financial institution attitudes to Islamic finance are examined and briefly compared with the larger body of extant work on attitudes, perceptions and knowledge of conventional financial services and products
Does the UTTO model of technology transfer fit public sector healthcare services?
Public sector healthcare services are both large users and innovators of health technologies. In the UK's National Health Service (NHS) initiatives have been developed to manage the process of technological innovation more effectively. This has two main aims, to maximize potential commercial returns from innovations developed within the NHS; and to improve levels of patient care through appropriate diffusion of innovations. The initiatives have been devised using approaches and processes already used in other public sector organizations, in particular, universities. Central to the approach taken by many universities is the setting up of a university technology transfer office (UTTO) to provide innovation management services. This paper assesses the extent to which the UTTO-based approach to technology transfer matches the needs of the NHS. Several significant factors are identified that suggest that the two sectors merit different approaches to innovation management. An agenda for further research into health service innovation management processes is suggested that emphasises issues including: the relative roles of formal and informal innovation processes; contingent variables affecting design of innovation processes; limitations of technology-push approaches to managing practice-based innovation; and cultural fit of innovation management models
Splash control of drop impacts with geometric targets
Drop impacts on solid and liquid surfaces exhibit complex dynamics due to the
competition of inertial, viscous, and capillary forces. After impact, a liquid
lamella develops and expands radially, and under certain conditions, the outer
rim breaks up into an irregular arrangement of filaments and secondary
droplets. We show experimentally that the lamella expansion and subsequent
break up of the outer rim can be controlled by length scales that are of
comparable dimension to the impacting drop diameter. Under identical impact
parameters, ie. fluid properties and impact velocity, we observe unique
splashing dynamics by varying the target cross-sectional geometry. These
behaviors include: (i) geometrically-shaped lamellae and (ii) a transition in
splashing stability, from regular to irregular splashing. We propose that
regular splashes are controlled by the azimuthal perturbations imposed by the
target cross-sectional geometry and that irregular splashes are governed by the
fastest-growing unstable Plateau-Rayleigh mode
Targeted Disruption of the α-Amylase Gene in the Hyperthermophilic Archaeon \u3ci\u3eSulfolobus solfataricus\u3c/i\u3e
Sulfolobus solfataricus secretes an acid-resistant _-amylase (amyA) during growth on starch as the sole
carbon and energy source. Synthesis of this activity is subject to catabolite repression. To better understand
_-amylase function and regulation, the structural gene was identified and disrupted and the resulting mutant
was characterized. Internal _-amylase peptide sequences obtained by tandem mass spectroscopy were used to
identify the amyA coding sequence. Anti-_-amylase antibodies raised against the purified protein immunoprecipitated
secreted _-amylase activity and verified the enzymatic identity of the sequenced protein. A new
gene replacement method was used to disrupt the amyA coding sequence by insertion of a modified allele of the
S. solfataricus lacS gene. PCR and DNA sequence analysis were used to characterize the altered amyA locus in
the recombinant strain. The amyA::lacS mutant lost the ability to grow on starch, glycogen, or pullulan as sole
carbon and energy sources. During growth on a non-catabolite-repressing carbon source with added starch, the
mutant produced no detectable secreted amylase activity as determined by enzyme assay, plate assay, or
Western blot analysis. These results clarify the biological role of the α-amylase and provide additional methods
for the directed genetic manipulation of the S. solfataricus genome
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