Consumer trust and confidence in the compliance of Islamic banks

Islamic banks compete with traditional (non-Islamic) banks for customers. This article aims to provide insight into why some Muslims choose to bank with Islamic banks in Pakistan, while others do not. Specifically, it addresses the questions: to what extent are trust and confidence active influencers in the decision-making process, are they differentiated or are they one of the same? Also how does the Pakistani collective cultural context further complicate the application of these concepts? For the purposes of this article trust refers to people and their interpersonal or social relations whereas confidence concerns institutions such as banks. Drawing on interviews with Muslim consumers in Pakistan, this study provides further insight into consumer behaviour within financial services and specifically Islamic banking and contributes to our theoretical understanding of the concepts of trust and confidence

Multi-messenger Observations of a Binary Neutron Star Merger

On 2017 August 17 a binary neutron star coalescence candidate (later designated GW170817) with merger time 12:41:04 UTC was observed through gravitational waves by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor independently detected a gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) with a time delay of ∼ 1.7 {{s}} with respect to the merger time. From the gravitational-wave signal, the source was initially localized to a sky region of 31 deg2 at a luminosity distance of {40}-8+8 Mpc and with component masses consistent with neutron stars. The component masses were later measured to be in the range 0.86 to 2.26 {M}ȯ . An extensive observing campaign was launched across the electromagnetic spectrum leading to the discovery of a bright optical transient (SSS17a, now with the IAU identification of AT 2017gfo) in NGC 4993 (at ∼ 40 {{Mpc}}) less than 11 hours after the merger by the One-Meter, Two Hemisphere (1M2H) team using the 1 m Swope Telescope. The optical transient was independently detected by multiple teams within an hour. Subsequent observations targeted the object and its environment. Early ultraviolet observations revealed a blue transient that faded within 48 hours. Optical and infrared observations showed a redward evolution over ∼10 days. Following early non-detections, X-ray and radio emission were discovered at the transient’s position ∼ 9 and ∼ 16 days, respectively, after the merger. Both the X-ray and radio emission likely arise from a physical process that is distinct from the one that generates the UV/optical/near-infrared emission. No ultra-high-energy gamma-rays and no neutrino candidates consistent with the source were found in follow-up searches. These observations support the hypothesis that GW170817 was produced by the merger of two neutron stars in NGC 4993 followed by a short gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) and a kilonova/macronova powered by the radioactive decay of r-process nuclei synthesized in the ejecta.</p

The association between smoking and psychopathology adjusted for body mass index and gender

Objective: This study examined the correlation between smoking habits and psychopathology status, as well as the impact of confounders such as body mass index and gender. Method: A total of 134 non-smokers and 152 smokers were enrolled in this study. We measured psychopathology features using Symptom Checklist 90-Revised. We ran logistic regression models testing the smoking-psychopathology association, controlling for body mass index and gender. Results: Smoking was positively correlated with depression, interpersonal sensitivity, hostility, somatization, paranoid ideation and psychoticism (P&lt;0.05). Adjusting for body mass index and gender, the results remained largely unchanged, with a slight independent effect of body mass index. Conclusions: Our data suggest that smoking is a stronger predictor of psychopathology than body mass index and gender

Effects of Diet, Lifestyle, Chrononutrition and Alternative Dietary Interventions on Postprandial Glycemia and Insulin Resistance

As years progress, we are found more often in a postprandial than a postabsorptive state. Chrononutrition is an integral part of metabolism, pancreatic function, and hormone secretion. Eating most calories and carbohydrates at lunch time and early afternoon, avoiding late evening dinner, and keeping consistent number of daily meals and relative times of eating occasions seem to play a pivotal role for postprandial glycemia and insulin sensitivity. Sequence of meals and nutrients also play a significant role, as foods of low density such as vegetables, salads, or soups consumed first, followed by protein and then by starchy foods lead to ameliorated glycemic and insulin responses. There are several dietary schemes available, such as intermittent fasting regimes, which may improve glycemic and insulin responses. Weight loss is important for the treatment of insulin resistance, and it can be achieved by many approaches, such as low-fat, low-carbohydrate, Mediterranean-style diets, etc. Lifestyle interventions with small weight loss (7&ndash;10%), 150 min of weekly moderate intensity exercise and behavioral therapy approach can be highly effective in preventing and treating type 2 diabetes. Similarly, decreasing carbohydrates in meals also improves significantly glycemic and insulin responses, but the extent of this reduction should be individualized, patient-centered, and monitored. Alternative foods or ingredients, such as vinegar, yogurt, whey protein, peanuts and tree nuts should also be considered in ameliorating postprandial hyperglycemia and insulin resistance. This review aims to describe the available evidence about the effects of diet, chrononutrition, alternative dietary interventions and exercise on postprandial glycemia and insulin resistance

The association of the metabolic profile in diabetes mellitus type 2 patients with obsessive-compulsive symptomatology and depressive symptomatology: New insights

Objective. The aim of the present study was to explore the relationship between diabetes mellitus type 2, Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptomatology and depressive symptomatology with the metabolic profile of diabetic patients. Methods. One hundred and thirty-one diabetic patients were randomly selected. In the first assessment all participants completed the Zung Self Rating Scale (ZUNG) and the Maudsley O-C Inventory Questionnaire (MOCI). After 1 year, diabetic patients that were initially uncontrolled (n = 31) (HbA1c &gt; 7) were re-evaluated by the same psychometric tools. From those 31 patients, 10 had managed to control their metabolic profile. Results. In the first evaluation MOCI and the sub-scale of slowness were statistically related with the diabetic profile (controlled, HbA1c &gt; 7; uncontrolled, HbA1c &gt; 7), with uncontrolled patients scoring significantly higher on the overall MOCI score and the factor of slowness of MOCI scale (P = 0.028). The analysis revealed a positive association between depressive symptomatology (P = 0.004) and obsessive-compulsive disorder symptomatology (P &lt; 0.001) and the metabolic profile of the patients. In the second evaluation the patients that managed to control their metabolic profile scored lower in both ZDRS and MOCI, although these differences in scores failed to reach significance levels were indicative of a tendency. Conclusions. The present results provide initial evidence that diabetes mellitus type 2 is associated with obsessive-compulsive disorder symptomatology and depressive symptomatology

High-field transport and noise properties of sputter-deposited amorphous carbon-silicon heterojunctions

The electrical conductivity of heterojunctions of amorphous carbon (a-C) films (25 and 75 nm thick) grown on silicon by magnetron sputtering has been studied as a function of the applied electric field and temperature. At low electric fields and high temperatures, the conductivity exhibits thermally activated ohmic behaviour with activation energy 0.14 eV. At high electric fields, photoconductance measurements indicate that the conductivity is primarily due to a field-activated mobility with its activation energy decreasing as the electric field increases. At very high electric fields, band-to-band tunnelling is the dominant conduction mechanism. The mobility field-activated conduction model indicates an energy distribution of trapping states consisting of two exponential distributions. The exponential distributions correspond to tail states arising from clustering of sp(2) sites and to deep states caused by isolated sp(2) sites. Low-frequency noise measurements show that thicker a-C films contain a higher concentration of the trapping states. This result was explained by an increase of the sp(2)/sp(3) bonding ratio found from the analysis of Raman spectroscopic measurements