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Fintech Growth during COVID-19 in MENA Region: Current Challenges and Future prospects

In the wake of ongoing challenges faced by the disruption of COVID-19, the current study attempts to investigate fintech growth during COVID-19 in the Middle East and North African (MENA) region. The study applies descriptive analysis, content analysis, and keyword selection criteria to segregate current challenges and future prospects of fintech growth in the MENA region. Our study comprises 250 research articles, web reports, news articles, opinion papers, and commentaries. The study reported privacy issues, cybercrimes, financial disruption and instability, exploitation of social norms and values, rising inequalities, and non-compliance of regulatory authorities as major challenges posed by fintech startups in the MENA region. On the contrary, the future prospects of FinTech growth in the MENA region are employment opportunities, decentralization, cost-effectiveness, financial outreach, networking, and breaking traditional financial biases. The study recommended multiple implications for policymakers, regulation bodies, countries in the MENA region, and fintech developers.

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VUV metalens / Table-top X-ray laser / Machine learning speeds up PV development / Near-zero-index materials / Making a “magic window” / Event Horizon Telescope / News from Ayar Labs and IonQ / THz rays reveal hidden inscription

23. Effect of COVID-19 Restrictions on 2021 Integrated Plastic Surgery Match Outcomes

Background: Due to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic (COVID-19), guidelines regarding both elimination of visiting subinternships and substitution of virtual interviews for the 2021 match were adapted. We hypothesize that these changes will result in an increase in home institution match rates compared to previous years. Methods: Program match data was obtained using information posted to residency program Instagram pages and the hashtag #PRSMatch2021. Medical school regions were categorized as West, Midwest, South, and Northeast and compared to match program region. Applicants who successfully matched from a medical school with an associated plastic surgery residency program or from a 2021 Top 40 US News and World Report Medical School Rankings for Research and National Institute of Health funding were recorded. Chi square was used to assess differences between groups. Results: A total of 181/187 (96.8%) integrated plastic surgery matched candidates were identified. Compared to historical controls, there was a statistically significant increase in the home match rate (24.3% vs 15.1%, p=.004) and statistically significant decrease in match rate for students without a home plastic surgery program (23.3% vs 30.5%, p=.004). Similar to prior years, applicants were more likely to match in their own region for all regions (p<.001); however, there was a statistical increase in students staying in the South region for residency compared to previous years (p=.007). The majority of applicants from Top 40 medical schools matched at Top 40 programs (62%, 62/100), compared to 21% of applicants graduating from other medical schools or international programs matching at Top 40 programs (17/81). Conclusion: The 2021 match cycle resulted in an increase in home program match rates, while decreasing match rates among students without a home plastic surgery program. COVID-19 polices may have resulted in disadvantages to students from diverse institutional backgrounds. Influences of virtual subinternships and virtual interviews should be further evaluated. Although short-term costs may be substantial to medical students, long-term benefits of resuming away subinternships and increasing diversity in plastic surgery trainees likely warrants safe resumption of in-person interactions when safely allowed.

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Mini-microscope / 3D displays / Gravitational waves / Edible fluorescent tags / Integrated LN systems / Frederic Ives / PhotonDelta / STEM diversity data / Wearable displays / Laser-powered weight loss? / Fabricating IR optics

빅데이터 분석기술을 이용한 자치경찰제 도입 전후 인식 연구

The reason for the introduction of the autonomous police system is closely related to the ideology of local autonomy guaranteed by the Constitution, and the democracy of security administration that reflects the participation of residents and the autonomy of local communities is key. Against this background, the main affairs of the self-governing police in Korea are centered on resident-friendly and public security. It is expected that the self-governing police will need the interest, understanding, cooperation, and participation of local communities and local residents to secure the security of the local community and solve various problems. This study aims to derive implications and provide basic data for the development of autonomous police by using the search volume related to autonomous police before and after the introduction of the autonomous police system, news, and SNS. According to the research results, first, search volume and news volume increased according to specific issues, but after the introduction of the system, search volume decreased while news volume increased. It can be understood that a large number of news are derived according to various issues about the autonomous police system, apart from people's interest. In order to attract local residents' attention and help them understand, efforts should be accompanied by exploring and applying promotional means other than media reports, and measures to secure finances to prepare an environment in which various policy methods can be proposed. Second, it can be inferred that there is still a lack of understanding and many questions about the autonomous police in that keywords related to form, timing, and method of introduction were highlighted through analysis of keywords related to news search before and after the introduction of the autonomous police. In order to enhance the public's understanding of the autonomous police and to establish a stable settlement, the government and related ministries should increase state support of cities and provinces and expand the authority of provincial governors to provide a foundation for operating in accordance with the purpose of the system. In addition, it is necessary to make efforts to dispel concerns by preparing measures to compensate for the shortcomings of the autonomous police system. Third, before and after the introduction, people's perception of the autonomous police was found to have changed positively on SNS, and it can be interpreted as expressing expectations for the autonomous police not long after the system was implemented. Therefore, in order for local police to dispel people's concerns and meet the expectations expressed, it will be necessary to supplement legal and institutional devices to secure the expertise and internalization of local police, including related ministries and institutions.

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Rapid plasma accelerators / Mitochondrial microlenses / Ultrathin fibers for optogenetics / Mimicking butterfly wings / Harvesting radio waves / Chicago Quantum Exchange / Equity in universities / Improving scintillation

Paving the Way Toward Meaningful Trials in Ataxias: An Ataxia Global Initiative Perspective.

Paving the Way Toward Meaningful Trials in Ataxias: An Ataxia Global Initiative Perspective.

Cross-cultural engagement through translated news: A reception analysis

Scholars in journalism and media studies have reflected on the cosmopolitan potential of the media and of news in particular to facilitate cross-cultural engagement. However, the key mediating role that translation plays when the news crosses linguistic and cultural borders has remained largely unexamined. This article considers how different translation strategies can maximise or minimise the potential journalism holds to facilitate cross-cultural engagement and approaches the still widely unexplored area of the reception of translated news. It relates existing debates in the discipline of translation studies to current approaches to the domestication of news in journalism research, paving the way for synergetic research across traditional disciplinary boundaries. The article explores how the news has the potential to equip readers with the cultural competence they need in a world that they share with others they do not understand, but only if journalistic translation practices promote rather than prevent engagement with the foreign cultural context. It discusses the findings of an exploratory focus-group study that compares the response of readers to news reporting translated according to the current norm for domesticating translation strategies with the response of readers to the same reports translated using an experimental ‘foreignised’ approach. The focus-group investigation, which takes Reuters’ English-language reporting on news from France as a case study, finds indications that the foreignised approach, by exposing the reader to the foreign cultural specificity rather than domesticating the news information using terms available in the target culture and language, is successful in facilitating cross-cultural engagement.

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A step toward laser fusion / Mapping methane / Imaging vision’s chemistry / COVID-19 breathalyzer / Optical trapping near absolute zero / Toward zero-carbon cities / Singapore quantum network / Gender bias in labs / Photon recycling

Announcement: News for Authors and Researchers

Archives > Volume 19 (2022) > Issue 1 > Item 06 DOI: 10.55521/10-019-106 International Journal of Social Work Values and Ethics • Volume 19(1), Copyright 2022 by IFSW This text may be freely shared among individuals, but it may not be republished in any medium without express written consent from the authors and advance notification of IFSW. I want to encourage […]

The Toxic Side of Nanotechnology: An Insight into Hazards to Health and the Ecosystem

: The objective of the present article is to provide an insight into the toxicity aspects of nanoparticles on health and the ecosystem, along with risk assessment and monitoring. After a detailed screening of various research reports from peer-reviewed journals, books, and research news, the article was prepared. Nanotechnology's various significant advantages over conventional technologies have been explored for diverse research and commercial needs, such as cosmetics, medical, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, electronics, catalysts, and robotics. However, nanotechnology has several challenging elements for health, environment, society, economic growth, and unpredictable consequences due to its unknown nature, which needs to be identified. Therefore, in this review, an attempt has been made to cover the two most important aspects of the toxicity of nanoparticles, i.e., influence on health and the ecosystem. The health hazards to various organs, especially lungs, gastro-intestinal tract and dermis, and aquatic organisms, have been elaborated. Furthermore, various ecotoxicological aspects, including mechanism of ecotoxicity, ecotoxicological challenges, and solutions to be undertaken by ecotoxicologists, are discussed. Finally, risk assessments related to the approaches that can be used for the optimization of nanotechnology are also mentioned. It is high time that nanotechnology gets reconsideration and uncompromising attention at the public and private level regarding its use, handling, storage, proper treatment, and disposal. Also, risk analysis and establishment of regulatory guidelines for the optimization and safe practice of nanotechnology for humans less harmful to the environment are recommended.

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Improving radiative cooling / DNA’s UV shield / Iridescent feathers / Lipid microlenses / Imaging cold atoms / Signify–Fluence deal / Apps for quantum computing / Sun-charged batteries / Imaging in low light

Influencing factors of urban innovation and development: a grounded theory analysis.

Urban innovation and development are a core driver for promoting the industrial, economic, and social development of cities. However, the factors that affect the innovation and development of cities lack systematic analysis as well as interaction analysis. Based on a multidimensional perspective, this study suggests that natural, economic, and social factors are three major factors conditioning urban innovation and development. A grounded theoretical qualitative method is further adopted to code relevant research literatures, news reports and interview materials, resulting in an onion factors model. We find that natural factors–including environmental quality, geographic location, and city scale–are prerequisite for conditioning urban innovation and development. Economic factors are also key, including economic level, industrial structure, industrial agglomeration, and technological innovation. Social factors are guarantee factors, including administrative hierarchy, cultural environment, population structure, and government management and services, i.e., they are essential for cities to become adaptable in the current dynamic situation. The study provides theoretical support and practical directions for the formulation of policies for urban innovation development.

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Detecting quantum sound / Mouse brain microscope / Rapid freeform fabrication / 3D imaging through hair-thin fiber / Light-powered robots / Studying bats in the wild / Lightelligence chip / Rockley sensor / Eco-friendly glitter

Research and Industry News

Research and Industry News

Test your knowledge of 2022’s autism research news

Test your knowledge of 2022’s autism research news

Investor Sentiment Combined with Multisource Information to Predict Stock Prices: An Analysis of China’s A-Share Market

Investor sentiment has been widely used in the research of the stock market, and how to accurately measure investor sentiment is still being explored. With the rise of social media, investor sentiment is no longer only influenced by macroeconomic data and news media, but also guided by We-Media and fragmented information. We take the data of China A-shares from January 2020 to December 2020 as the research object and propose a stock price prediction method that combines investor sentiment with multisource information. Firstly, the sentiment of macroeconomic data, brokerage research reports, news, and We-Media is calculated, respectively, and then the investor sentiment vector combining multisource information is obtained by the multilayer perceptron. Finally, the LSTM model is used to represent the stock time series characteristics. The results show that (1) the proposed algorithm is superior to the benchmark algorithm in terms of accuracy and F1-score, (2) investor sentiment vector can effectively measure the investment sentiment of stocks, and (3) compared with vector concatenation, multilayer perceptron can better represent investor sentiment.

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Toward fault-tolerant quantum computing / Detecting solar-panel defects / Fluorescent dyes encode data / Low-noise LIGO mirror coatings / High-performance photodetectors / X-ray scattering / Europe’s quantum tech / Advancing lidar market / Cooking with lasers / Upgraded comb breathalyzer

Advantages and Design Considerations of Biomass Gasifier Chp Systems and the Mass and Energy Balance of the Enerfab Tm -Wbg 7.5&lt;sup&gt;©&lt;/sup&gt; System

The SLEMA Journal is published by the Sri Lanka Energy Managers Association (SLEMA). Published twice a year since 1984, the SLEMA Journal carries research papers, articles, reviews and news about the status and new developments in the energy sector of Sri Lanka.

Merdeka Belajar in an Online Learning during The Covid-19 Outbreak: Concept and Implementation

Abstract – Nadiem Makarim, the Minister of Education and Culture, released "Merdeka Belajar" (Freedom to Learn) as his revolutionary program by the end of 2019. It aims to make significant changes in the world of education. The current study aims to demonstrate the understanding of primary school teachers' understanding of the concept and implementation of Merdeka Belajar during Covid-19. Data were obtained through surveys via Google-Forms and in-depth interviews via WhatsApp with twenty primary school teachers at private and public schools around DKI Jakarta, Bogor, and Banten. In contrast, secondary data is obtained from previous research and online news directly related to this study. They were analyzed through restatement, description, and interpretation stages. The investigation resulted that the teachers having conceptually understood the program of Merdeka Belajar well. They agreed and accepted the program to reform and improve the education quality and the changes of times. The problem lies in the practical implementation due to the limited number of teacher movers in every school unit as creators, innovators, and role models for the other teachers. Besides, the lack of supporting infrastructure for online learning and the teachers' mastery of technology also hinder the program's success. Finally, this study recommended the need to socialize with the community, hold more teacher training, increase the number and distribution of teacher movers, and improve teachers' skills in using information and communication technology in the learning process.&#x0D; &#x0D; Keywords: Merdeka Belajar, Teacher Mover, Online Learning, Covid-19