Purpose
The purpose of this study is to empirically investigate the impact of intellectual capital (IC) on the financial performance of Islamic banks operating in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) ...countries.
Design/methodology/approach
The study measures IC by the value added intellectual coefficient model. A regression analysis was used to assess the impact of IC on financial performance. The research sample consisted of Islamic banks operating in the GCC countries during the years 2011, 2012 and 2013. Data originated from the annual reports of Islamic banks.
Findings
The results support the thesis that IC has a positive impact on the financial performance of Islamic banks. Even though the average IC is lower than that reported in other studies, the positive effect on financial performance is obvious. The findings also show that human capital (HC) is higher than capital employed (CE) and structural capital (SC). The study reveals that SC has an insignificant impact on the financial performance of the Islamic banks compared to CE and HC.
Practical implications
The findings provide empirical evidence that IC affects the Islamic banks’ financial performance. It helps Islamic banks in the GCC countries to understand how to use their IC efficiently, especially SC as it is yet to be used efficiently. Also, the findings benefit the relevant authorities (e.g. legislators and central banks) who could use them to emphasise strategic policy reforms whenever required.
Originality/value
The current research adds to the empirical studies in the GCC countries as it views the region as a collective as opposed to individual countries. It also extends the IC and performance measurement literature of Islamic banks in the GCC countries. Moreover, the current study enriches the limited literature on IC in the context of Islamic banking.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between the intellectual capital (IC) information reported in the annual reports and market value of the companies listed on the ...Qatar Stock Exchange.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on a panel data collected from the annual reports and Bloomberg database for six years, specifically the periods 2010-2012 and 2016-2018. The total sample consists of 252 observations. The theoretical framework was developed in reference to the resource-based theory. The regression model is based on Ohlson’s model, which has been modified by including IC information.
Findings
The study found that there is a significant relationship between IC information and firm market value. This finding indicates that companies report their IC to help the stakeholders (e.g. shareholders, investors) to understand the real value of the company (which includes IC values).
Practical implications
The shift to a knowledge-based economy (KBE) has made knowledge a driver for economic growth, and it has become more important than capital, land and labour. This shift makes IC and resources vital for companies to create wealth, value and gain competitive advantage. The State of Qatar plans to transform its economy to a KBE in its “Qatar Vision 2030”. The findings of the study show that the companies have started to depend more on IC to contribute to transforming Qatar’s economy to a KBE.
Originality/value
This study could be considered a pioneer study to examine the association of IC disclosure and firm value in Qatar. Furthermore, prior literature has mixed findings, which justifies further investigation of IC’s effect on market value, particularly in the emerging economy of Qatar.
Rationale, aims and objectives
Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a worldwide and national public health problem that has a great impact on the population in Saudi Arabia. High‐quality clinical ...practice guidelines (CPGs) are cornerstones in improving the health care provided for patients with diabetes. This study evaluated the methodological rigour, transparency, and applicability of recently published CPGs.
Methods
Our group conducted a systematic search for recently published CPGs for T2DM. The searching and screening for Source CPGs were guided by tools from the ADAPTE methods with specific inclusion/exclusion criteria. Five reviewers using the second version of the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE II) Instrument independently assessed the quality of the retrieved Source CPGs.
Results
Domains of Scope and purpose and Clarity of presentation received the highest scores in all CPGs. Most of the assessed CPGs (86%) were considered with high overall quality and were recommended for use. Rigour of development and applicability domains were together highest in 3 CPGs (43%). The overall high quality of DM CPGs published in the last 3 years demonstrated the continuous development and improvement in CPG methodologies and standards.
Conclusions
Health care professionals should consider the quality of any CPG for T2DM before deciding to use it in their daily clinical practice. Three CPGs have been identified, using the AGREE criteria, as high‐quality and trustworthy. Ideally, the resources provided by the AGREE trust including the AGREE II Instrument should be used by a clinician to scan through the large number of published T2DM CPGs to identify the CPGs with high methodological quality and applicability.
Full text
Available for:
DOBA, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
OBJECTIVE:The role of intensive insulin therapy in medical surgical intensive care patients remains unclear. The objective of this study was to examine the effect of intensive insulin therapy on ...mortality in medical surgical intensive care unit patients.
DESIGN:Randomized controlled trial.
SETTINGS:Tertiary care intensive care unit.
PATIENTS:Medical surgical intensive care unit patients with admission blood glucose of >6.1 mmol/L or 110 mg/dL.
INTERVENTION:A total of 523 patients were randomly assigned to receive intensive insulin therapy (target blood glucose 4.4–6.1 mmol/L or 80–110 mg/dL) or conventional insulin therapy (target blood glucose 10–11.1 mmol/L or 180–200 mg/dL).
MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN OUTCOMES:The primary end point was intensive care unit mortality. Secondary end points included hospital mortality, intensive care unit and hospital length of stay, mechanical ventilation duration, the need for renal replacement therapy and packed red blood cells transfusion, and the rates of intensive care unit acquired infections as well as the rate of hypoglycemia (defined as blood glucose ≤2.2 mmol/L or 40 mg/dL). There was no significant difference in intensive care unit mortality between the intensive insulin therapy and conventional insulin therapy groups (13.5% vs. 17.1%, p = 0.30). After adjustment for baseline characteristics, intensive insulin therapy was not associated with mortality difference (adjusted hazard ratio 1.09, 95% confidence interval 0.70–1.72). Hypoglycemia occurred more frequently with intensive insulin therapy (28.6% vs. 3.1% of patients; p < 0.0001 or 6.8/100 treatment days vs. 0.4/100 treatment days; p < 0.0001). There was no difference between the intensive insulin therapy and conventional insulin therapy in any of the other secondary end points.
CONCLUSIONS:Intensive insulin therapy was not associated with improved survival among medical surgical intensive care unit patients and was associated with increased occurrence of hypoglycemia. Based on these results, we do not advocate universal application of intensive insulin therapy in intensive care unit patients.
TRIAL REGISTRATION:Current Controlled Trials registry (ISRCTN07413772) http://www.controlled-trials.com/ISRCTN07413772/07413772; 2005.
This paper presents a review of techniques involved in the creation and detection of audio deepfakes, the first section provides information about general deep fakes. In the second section, the main ...methods for audio deepfakes are outlined and subsequently compared. The results discuss various methods for detecting audio deepfakes, including analyzing statistical properties, examining media consistency, and utilizing machine learning and deep learning algorithms. Major methods used to detect fake audio in these studies included Support Vector Machines (SVMs), Decision Trees (DTs), Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), Siamese CNNs, Deep Neural Networks (DNNs), and a combination of CNNs and Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs). The accuracy of these methods varied, with the highest accuracy being 99% for SVM and the lowest being 73.33% for DT. The Equal Error Rate (EER) was reported in a few of the studies, with the lowest being 2% for Deep-Sonar and the highest being 12.24 for DNN-HLLs. The t-DCF was also reported in some of the studies, with the Siamese CNN performing the best with a 55% improvement in min-t-DCF and EER compared to other methods.
This paper aims to test the impact of negotiation power between auditors and audited companies, in relation to audit fees. The study found that there is a significant positive relationship between ...auditors' power of negotiation and the audit fees. In addition, it found that there is a significant negative relationship between the size of the audited companies, their negotiating power and the audit fees. These findings indicate that when companies negotiate with Big4 audit firms, their bargaining power does not have a significant effect on the audit fees. Nevertheless, if the auditor is not one of the Big4, there is a significantly negative relationship between the company's bargaining power and audit fees. The relationship therefore changes according to the size of a company. If a company is large, there will be a negative relationship with the audit fees. However, if it is a small company, the relationship is not significant.
Objectives/Hypothesis
To evaluate the usefulness of elastic scattering spectroscopy (ESS) as a diagnostic adjunct to frozen section analysis in patients with diagnosed squamous cell carcinoma of the ...oral cavity.
Study Design
Prospective analytic study.
Methods
Subjects for this single institution, institutional review board–approved study were recruited from among patients undergoing surgical resection for squamous cell cancer of the oral cavity. A portable ESS device with a contact fiberoptic probe was used to obtain spectral signals. Four to 10 spectral readings were obtained on each subject from various sites including gross tumor and normal‐appearing mucosa in the surgical margin. Each reading was correlated with the histopathologic findings of biopsies taken from the exact location of the spectral readings. A diagnostic algorithm based on multidimensional pattern recognition/machine learning was developed. Sensitivity and specificity, error rate, and area under the curve were used as performance metrics for tests involving classification between disease and nondisease classes.
Results
Thirty‐four (34) subjects were enrolled in the study. One hundred seventy‐six spectral data point/biopsy specimen pairs were available for analysis. ESS distinguished normal from abnormal tissue, with a sensitivity ranging from 84% to 100% and specificity ranging from 71% to 89%, depending on how the cutoff between normal and abnormal tissue was defined (i.e., mild, moderate, or severe dysplasia). There were statistically significant differences in
malignancy scores between histologically normal tissue and invasive cancer and between noninflamed tissue and inflamed tissue.
Conclusions
This is the first study to evaluate the effectiveness of ESS in guiding mucosal resection margins in oral cavity cancer. ESS provides fast, real‐time assessment of tissue without the need for pathology expertise. ESS appears to be effective in distinguishing between normal mucosa and invasive cancer and between “normal” tissue (histologically normal and mild dysplasia) and “abnormal” tissue (severe dysplasia and carcinoma in situ) that might require further margin resection. Further studies, however, are needed with a larger sample size to validate these findings and to determine the effectiveness of ESS in distinguishing visibly and histologically normal tissue from visibly normal but histologically abnormal tissue.
Level of Evidence
NA Laryngoscope, 127:S1–S9, 2017
Full text
Available for:
BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the compliance of disclosure with the financial accounting standards of the Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions’ (AAOIFI) ...related to Islamic financing products by Islamic banks in Bahrain and Qatar.
Design/methodology/approach
The study measures compliance using disclosure indexes. The disclosure indexes include the three financial accounting standards of
Murabaha
,
Mudaraba
and
Musharaka
. The data are collected from the annual reports of 24 Islamic banks in Bahrain and Qatar over a period of 2012-2015.
Findings
The paper found that Islamic banks in Bahrain and Qatar comply with AAOIFI financial accounting standards related to
Murabaha
,
Mudaraba
and
Musharaka
. However, there was a level of non-compliance in both countries. In addition, it found that the extent of compliance had increased over the 2012-2015 period. Also, the
Murabaha
standard had the highest mean of compliance. Moreover, the results showed that the Islamic banks in Qatar tend to have more compliance of overall
Murabaha
and
Mudaraba
disclosures compared to the Islamic banks in Bahrain.
Research limitations/implications
The findings are preliminary and highlight that the issue is of high interest to Islamic banks and AAOIFI. Hence, it requires a detailed follow-up to form a complete picture that would assist AAOIFI and regulators gear their policies toward better quality disclosure by Islamic financial institutions. Even though the findings are encouraging, future research is recommended to enforce compliance with the AAOIFI financial accounting standards.
Originality/value
This is a pioneer empirical study that focuses on the level and trend of compliance with AAOIFI financial accounting standards related to the Islamic financing products of
Murabaha
,
Mudaraba
and
Musharaka
standards, especially in Qatar. Additionally, it is the first study comparing between the only two Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, i.e. Bahrain and Qatar, that mandatory apply the AAOIFI standards.
Alterations in rumen epithelial structure and function during grain-induced subacute ruminal acidosis (SARA) are largely undescribed. In this study, four mature nonlactating dairy cattle were ...transitioned from a high-forage diet (HF; 0% grain) to a high-grain diet (HG; 65% grain). After feeding the HG diet for 3 wk, the cattle were transitioned back to the original HF diet, which was fed for an additional 3 wk. Continuous ruminal pH was measured on a weekly basis, and rumen papillae were biopsied during the baseline and at the first and final week of each diet. The mean, minimum, and maximum daily ruminal pH were depressed (P < 0.01) in the HG period compared with the HF period. During the HG period, SARA was diagnosed only during week 1, indicating ruminal adaptation to the HG diet. Microscopic examination of the papillae revealed a reduction (P < 0.01) in the stratum basale, spinosum, and granulosum layers, as well as total depth of the epithelium during the HG period. The highest (P < 0.05) papillae lesion scores were noted during week 1 when SARA occurred. Biopsied papillae exhibited a decline in cellular junctions, extensive sloughing of the stratum corneum, and the appearance of undifferentiated cells near the stratum corneum. Differential mRNA expression of candidate genes, including desmoglein 1 and IGF binding proteins 3, 5, and 6, was detected between diets using qRT-PCR. These results suggest that the structural integrity of the rumen epithelium is compromised during grain feeding and is associated with the differential expression of genes involved in epithelial growth and structure.
Spectral reflectance measurements of biological tissues have been studied for early diagnoses of several pathologies such as cancer. These measurements are often performed with a fiber optic probe in ...contact with the tissue surface. We report a study in which reflectance measurements are obtained
from mouse thigh muscle while varying the contact pressure of the fiber optic probe. It is determined that the probe pressure is a variable that affects the local optical properties of the tissue. The reflectance spectra are analyzed with an analytical model that extracts the tissue optical properties and facilitates the understanding of underlying physiological changes induced by the probe pressure.
PDF
