The "handedness" of language: Directional symmetry breaking of sign usage in words

Language, which allows complex ideas to be communicated through symbolic sequences, is a characteristic feature of our species and manifested in a multitude of forms. Using large written corpora for many different languages and scripts, we show that the occurrence probability distributions of signs at the left and right ends of words have a distinct heterogeneous nature. Characterizing this asymmetry using quantitative inequality measures, viz. information entropy and the Gini index, we show that the beginning of a word is less restrictive in sign usage than the end. This property is not simply attributable to the use of common affixes as it is seen even when only word roots are considered. We use the existence of this asymmetry to infer the direction of writing in undeciphered inscriptions that agrees with the archaeological evidence. Unlike traditional investigations of phonotactic constraints which focus on language-specific patterns, our study reveals a property valid across languages and writing systems. As both language and writing are unique aspects of our species, this universal signature may reflect an innate feature of the human cognitive phenomenon.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures + Supplementary Information (15 pages, 8 figures), final corrected versio

THE IMPACT OF MOBILE FINANCIAL SERVICES ON THE USAGE DIMENSION OF FINANCIAL INCLUSION: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY FROM BANGLADESH

A plethora of studies have investigated how Mobile Financial Services (MFS) induces financial inclusion around the world. However, research in the context of Bangladesh was rather limited. Hence, the primary objective of this paper was to investigate whether there was a statistically significant relationship between MFS and financial inclusion, measured by two time series variables – the number of MFS agents and number of registered MFS users per 100,000 of population, from 2017 to 2020. For analyzing the relationship between these two variables, multiple statistical methods were employed – including Vector Auto Regression, Cointegration and Granger Causality. The analysis revealed that both time series variables had an increasing trend with time. More importantly, the analysis specified that there was no statistically significant relationship between MFS, measured by the number of agents and the ‘usage’ dimension of financial inclusion, measured by number of registered MFS users in the context of Bangladesh. Moreover, the study was unable to find any significant changes in the trends of these variables that could be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh

A patient agent controlled customized blockchain based framework for internet of things

Although Blockchain implementations have emerged as revolutionary technologies for various industrial applications including cryptocurrencies, they have not been widely deployed to store data streaming from sensors to remote servers in architectures known as Internet of Things. New Blockchain for the Internet of Things models promise secure solutions for eHealth, smart cities, and other applications. These models pave the way for continuous monitoring of patient’s physiological signs with wearable sensors to augment traditional medical practice without recourse to storing data with a trusted authority. However, existing Blockchain algorithms cannot accommodate the huge volumes, security, and privacy requirements of health data. In this thesis, our first contribution is an End-to-End secure eHealth architecture that introduces an intelligent Patient Centric Agent. The Patient Centric Agent executing on dedicated hardware manages the storage and access of streams of sensors generated health data, into a customized Blockchain and other less secure repositories. As IoT devices cannot host Blockchain technology due to their limited memory, power, and computational resources, the Patient Centric Agent coordinates and communicates with a private customized Blockchain on behalf of the wearable devices. While the adoption of a Patient Centric Agent offers solutions for addressing continuous monitoring of patients’ health, dealing with storage, data privacy and network security issues, the architecture is vulnerable to Denial of Services(DoS) and single point of failure attacks. To address this issue, we advance a second contribution; a decentralised eHealth system in which the Patient Centric Agent is replicated at three levels: Sensing Layer, NEAR Processing Layer and FAR Processing Layer. The functionalities of the Patient Centric Agent are customized to manage the tasks of the three levels. Simulations confirm protection of the architecture against DoS attacks. Few patients require all their health data to be stored in Blockchain repositories but instead need to select an appropriate storage medium for each chunk of data by matching their personal needs and preferences with features of candidate storage mediums. Motivated by this context, we advance third contribution; a recommendation model for health data storage that can accommodate patient preferences and make storage decisions rapidly, in real-time, even with streamed data. The mapping between health data features and characteristics of each repository is learned using machine learning. The Blockchain’s capacity to make transactions and store records without central oversight enables its application for IoT networks outside health such as underwater IoT networks where the unattended nature of the nodes threatens their security and privacy. However, underwater IoT differs from ground IoT as acoustics signals are the communication media leading to high propagation delays, high error rates exacerbated by turbulent water currents. Our fourth contribution is a customized Blockchain leveraged framework with the model of Patient-Centric Agent renamed as Smart Agent for securely monitoring underwater IoT. Finally, the smart Agent has been investigated in developing an IoT smart home or cities monitoring framework. The key algorithms underpinning to each contribution have been implemented and analysed using simulators.Doctor of Philosoph

Rights of suspect and accused under Islamic and Malaysian law

This book analyses the Islamic viewpoint on the rights of a suspect or an accused at all stages of criminal procedures. Al-Qur’an, al-sunnah and other sources of Islamic Law have been the basis of discussion. The opinion of the four established sunni schools have also been referred to. The findings are thereafter compared with Malaysian law. It has been observed that there are more similarities than differences between the two systems of law. In some aspects where there are differences, it is hoped that the implementation of suggestions made throughout this book could harmonise the differences and at the same time refined laws could be introduced in order to maintain justice

English Proficiency Assessments of Primary and Secondary Students Participating in English in Action: Third Cohort (2014) Large-Scale Quantitative Study

The purpose of the study was to assess the student learning outcomes of English in Action’s (EIA’s) school-based teacher development programme, in terms of improved English language competence (ELC), against recognised international frameworks (specifically, the Graded Examinations in Spoken English [GESE)]; Trinity College London 2013), which map onto the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). Measurably improved student learning outcomes are the ultimate test of success of a teacher development programme. English Proficiency Assessments 2014 is a repeat of the study on the pilot EIA programme (Cohort 14) (EIA 2012), but focusing only on student ELC. The teachers and hence the students of Cohort 3 are substantially greater in number than in the pilot phase (347,000 primary students and almost 1.7 million secondary students compared with around 700 teachers, 35,000 primary students and over 83,000 secondary students in 2011). To enable this increase in scale, the programme has been delivered through a more decentralised model, with much less direct contact with English language teaching (ELT) experts, a greater embedding of expertise within teacher development materials (especially video), and a greater dependence upon localised peer support. This report addresses the following research question: To what extent do the students of Cohort 3 show improved post-intervention EL proficiencies, in speaking and listening, compared with the Cohort 1 2010 preintervention baseline

Drug potency effects of three anthelmintics against natural fascioliasis with hematological values in goat

The purpose of the study was to compare the effectiveness of three anthelmintics against naturally occurring fascioliasis in goats as well as how they affected various hematological values over the course of 28 days. For this investigation, out of 417 goats, 60 were selected who were suffering from liver fluke infection. After being randomly divided into four groups of 15 animals each, the first three groups got treatment with triclabendazole, oxyclozanide, and nitroxynil while the fourth group was kept as a control group and received no medication. The results of the study showed that the egg per gram (EPG) count of the treatment groups significantly decreased successively (P < 0.01) on days 3rd, 7th, 14th, and 28th, whereas the control group produced significantly from day 3rd through the experimental period. Results revealed that the mean EPG was reduced by 78.40 %, 73.33 %, and 83.11 %, respectively, following treatment with triclabendazole, oxyclozanide, and nitroxynil, while the mean EPG production was 22.66 % in the control group. Hematological parameters including Hb, PCV, and TEC values, were lower before the treatment but turned to increase significantly (P < 0.01) on study day 28th, however, the mean TLC values were decreased substantially (P < 0.01) compared to the untreated control group. This result may indicate that all three anthelmintics were efficient, but nitroxynil had a relatively higher efficacy against goat fascioliasis regarding on the EPG and hematological indices