Group level influence on blog's design behaviour

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.The purpose of this research is twofold. Firstly, this research aims to investigate whether the design preferences of bloggers in selected countries from different cultural backgrounds are influenced by national culture traits. The investigation involves two categories of blogs selected within a country where the bloggers share similar attributes such as language or geographical location. Secondly, simultaneously, this research intends to discover the possibility of the impact of group level influence on design preferences of bloggers who are linked together in a network through bloggers’ linkage or blogrolls. To achieve the said purposes, observations on both the global and local blogs of six selected countries are conducted using the content analysis method. This method allows this research to observe web pages and rate design preferences of bloggers via a coding system, similar to the method used to analyse documents or manuscripts to find common themes or keywords. A total of 612 blogs (306 global and 306 local) are observed for a period of nine months to identify cultural traits on design behaviour based on national culture indicators chosen from prominent literatures. To prevent a systematic error, an independent second observer was appointed and the results obtained are compared using a statistical methodology. In addition, translators were also engaged to verify that the translations are of a correct meaning and comprehension since blogs use various national languages on their web pages. The data were statistically tested using SPSS engaging in statistical analysis of frequency table, Cross-Tabulation and cluster analyses and MANOVA. Results shown that design preferences between both the global and local blogs in each country, has significant differences in most of the design indicators chosen. The findings indicate that the national culture influence on design preferences in linked networks of blogs is weakening indicating another type of influence might be in existence. The results also provide evidence that blogs in linked networks are statistically significant as a cluster or a group by themselves and are independent from one cluster to another. The research, however, studies only six countries from six different cultural dimensions. The inclusion of other countries, similar to or different from the countries under investigation, would be an added advantage. Furthermore, the use of only a single type of global blog provider (blogspot.com) in this research could be extended to other global blog providers such as wordpress.com to give fairer coverage of major and popular global blogs as well as providing a wider generalisation effect of the research findings

Halal food based on maqâshid al-syarî’ah perspective

Halal food is essential for the life of a Muslim. Islam is very concerned about the halal aspect to safeguard the benefit of mankind. Halal food from the perspective of maqâshid al-syarî’ah is something that needs to be realized and understood so as not to cause harm. This study aims to explore and analyze the urgency of halal food from the perspective of maqâshid al-syarî’ah. Qualitative methods in the form of content analysis and literature study from secondary data were carried out in this study. Research shows that consuming halal food is very important in maintaining the five essential components in maqâshid al-syarî’ah, namely the maintenance of religion, soul, mind, descent, and property. Muslims must have awareness and understanding regarding every product they consume and producers should ensure the halal supply chain in processing their food products

Financial stability in Indonesian Islamic banking using Z-Score: Before and during Covid-19

This study aims to analyze the level of comparison of the financial stability of Islamic banking in the period before and during the Covid-19 pandemic. This study uses a paired T-test by taking samples of 13 Islamic Commercial Banks that publish financial reports regularly on the website of OJK in quarter I 2019 – quarter IV 2020. The results explain that Z-Score, BOPO, NPF, HHI, GDP and Inflation have no differences in the average level before pandemic compared to during the Covid-19 pandemic. Then FDR, Bank Size and BI Rate have differences in the average level before pandemic compared to during the Covid-19 pandemic. The results of the comparative analysis of the financial stability of Islamic banking before the Covid-19 pandemic compared to during the Covid-19 pandemic through the Z-Score analytical explained that Islamic banks were more stable before the pandemic, but still had good stability during the Covid-19 pandemic

Prevalence of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome among Malaysian Female University Staff

Background & aim: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a metabolic disease with diverse etiologies. The prevalence of PCOS varies among different ethnicities and across various geographical and social settings. Scarce data exist on the prevalence of PCOS in Asia, especially in Malaysia. Regarding this, the present study was conducted to assess the prevalence of PCOS and its subtypes among the Malaysian University staff. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on females of reproductive age working at University Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia. The study population was selected through simple random sampling technique. The women with thyroid abnormalities or adrenal hyperplasia were excluded from the study. The participants were screened based on anthropometric measurements, medical history, blood pressure, and pelvic examination, as well as the presence of hirsutism, acne, and alopecia. The participants were also assessed for total and free testosterone levels and subjected to ultrasonography. The PCOS diagnosis was based on Rotterdam criteria. The data were analyzed using Mann-Whitney U test, t-test, Chi-square test, and logistic regression at the significance level of 0.05. Results: A total of 675 females with the mean age of 26.01±7.14 years participated in this study. The prevalence rate of PCOS was obtained as 12.6%. All PCOS subjects were detected with hyperandrogenism and polycystic ovary, while anovulation was present in only one participant (1.2%). Odds of PCOS diagnosis was significantly related to increased body mass index (OR=1.14, 95% CI: 1.05-1.25), higher waist circumference (OR=1.06, 95% CI: 1.01-1.11), hirsutism (OR=20.83, 95% CI: 5.35- 81.13), and amenorrhea (OR=0.18, 95% CI: 0.04-0.69). Conclusion: This study revealed a high prevalence of PCOS and a specific phenotype of PCOS among the Malaysian employees

An emotional intelligence relationship with academic achievement: An Islamic secondary school student context

This study is about the investigation of Form One Islamic High School students emotional intelligence at Hulu Terengganu district in Malaysia. 364 Form One students was selected from 4 Islamic high school in the district to answer the questionaires. The data of frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation was run and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS version 20.0). Research outcome showed that the students’ emotional intelligence level is in the medium range, which interpersonal skill is the most dominant domain among the students. Its shows have a relationship between the emotional intelligence and the students’ academic achievement through the Pearson correlation analysis. But the relationship is not significant.&nbsp

A Review on the Assessment of the Efficacy of Common Treatments in Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome on Prevention of Diabetes Mellitus

Objective: Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is a common condition amongst women of reproductive age that can result in increased mortality and morbidity in women due to increased risk of diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular diseases. The aim of this systematic review was to assess the effectiveness of common treatments of PCOS on the predictors of diabetes in non-diabetic PCOS women. Materials and methods: An extensive search was performed on the publications in three medical databases including pubmed, scopus and google scholar from 1995 till 2017. The articles were screened based on their quality and included in this systematic review. A total of 25 articles including cohort, randomised controlled trial, review and meta-analysis were included in the review. Results: This systematic review revealed that the effect of lifestyle modification might be low in PCOS subjects due to high drop-out rate while the benefits of this intervention including weight and fat reduction may not be achieved by medical interventions. Metformin treatment may result in improvements in insulin sensitivity while its weight reduction effect is still not documented in PCOS subjects. Thiazolidendiones might be tolerated by the PCOS subjects and may result in similar effects as metformin but this effect should be documented by further studies. Conclusion: Combination of lifestyle modification with metformin or thiazolidinedions might improve the outcome of the prevention strategies. On the other hand this study revealed a different response to treatments in non-obese compared with obese PCOS subjects