Islamic Banking Education in Maqasid al-Mu'amalat’sPerspective

This article explains the role of tertiary education in Islamic banking in Indonesia with a review of maqa>s}id al-mu'a>mala>t. As known, the development of Islamic banking is still being pursued today. Accordingly, the public's need for an understanding of Islamic banking and the need for experts in the field of Islamic banking cannot be denied. Therefore, it requires experts who have graduated from the Islamic banking study program from universities, including the Kediri State Islamic Institute, to answer this challenge. The contribution of higher education in the Islamic banking study program to produce excellent graduates is an important thing that must be realized. Islamic banking education, when viewed by maqa>s}id al-mu'a>mala>t, it is known that real certainty is manifested, such as a comprehensive understanding of Islamic banking in terms of compliance with Islamic banking principles which includes compliance with the principles of Islamic banking. Sharia principles, prudential provisions, increased operational efficiency which will have an impact on high competitiveness and stability of the Islamic banking system as well as benefits to the economy. There is also a universal dimension, namely the general benefit between the government, Islamic financial institutions and the public. Keywords: Education, Islamic Bank, Maqa>s}id al-Mu'a>mala>t. Abstrak: Artikel ini menerangkan peran pendidikan perguruan tinggi dalam perbankan syariah di Indonesia dengan tinjaun maqa>s}id al-mu’a>mala>t. Seperti diketahui, pengembangan perbankan syariah masih diupayakan sampai saat ini. Sesuai dengan itu, kebutuhan masyarakat terhadap pemahaman perbankan syariah serta kebutuhan tenaga ahli di bidang perbankan syariah tidak dapat dipungkiri. Oleh sebab itu, butuh tenaga ahli lulusan program studi perbankan syariah dari perguruan tinggi, termasuk Institut Agama Islam Negeri Kediri, untuk menjawab tantangan ini. Kontribusi pendidikan tinggi program studi perbankan syariah untuk melahirkan sarjana-sarjana yang unggul, merupakan hal penting yang harus direalisasikan. Pendidikan perbankan syariah, apabila ditinjau dengan maqa>s}id al-mu’a>mala>t, maka diketahui, terwujud kepastian yang nyata, seperti pemahaman yang menyeluruh tentang perbankan syariah dalam hal kepatuhan pada prinsip perbankan syariah yang meliputi kepatuhan pada prinsip-prinsip syariah, ketentuan kehati-hatian, peningkatan efisiensi operasional yang berdampak pada daya saing yang tinggi dan stabilitas sistem perbankan syariah serta kemanfaatan bagi perekonomian. Terwujud juga dimensi universal, yakni kemaslahatan umum antara pemerintah, lembaga keuangan syariah dan masyarakat. Kata Kunci: Pendidikan, Bank Syariah, Maqa>s}id al-Mu’a>mala>t.

Lifestyle Adjustments in Long-COVID Management: Potential Benefits of Plant-Based Diets

Purpose of Review The SARS-CoV-2-pandemic has caused mortality and morbidity at an unprecedented global scale. Many patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 continue to experience symptoms after the acute phase of infection and report fatigue, sleep difficulties, anxiety, and depression as well as arthralgia and muscle weakness. Summarized under the umbrella term “long-COVID,” these symptoms may last weeks to months and impose a substantial burden on affected individuals. Dietary approaches to tackle these complications have received comparably little attention. Although plant-based diets in particular were shown to exert benefits on underlying conditions linked to poor COVID-19 outcomes, their role with regard to COVID-19 sequelae is yet largely unknown. Thus, this review sought to investigate whether a plant-based diet could reduce the burden of long-COVID. Recent Findings The number of clinical trials investigating the role of plant-based nutrition in COVID-19 prevention and management is currently limited. Yet, there is evidence from pre-pandemic observational and clinical studies that a plant-based diet may be of general benefit with regard to several clinical conditions that can also be found in individuals with COVID-19. These include anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, and musculoskeletal pain. Adoption of a plant-based diet leads to a reduced intake in pro-inflammatory mediators and could be one accessible strategy to tackle long-COVID associated prolonged systemic inflammation. Summary Plant-based diets may be of general benefit with regard to some of the most commonly found COVID-19 sequelae. Additional trials investigating which plant-based eating patterns confer the greatest benefit in the battle against long-COVID are urgently warranted.

Update on the Scientific Status of the Plasma Focus

This paper is a sequel to the 1998 review paper “Scientific status of the Dense Plasma Focus” with 16 authors belonging to 16 nations, whose initiative led to the establishment of the International Center for Dense Magnetized Plasmas (ICDMP) in the year 2000. Its focus is on understanding the principal defining characteristic features of the plasma focus in the light of the developments that have taken place in the last 20 years, in terms of new facilities, diagnostics, models, and insights. Although it is too soon to proclaim with certainty what the plasma focus phenomenon is, the results available to date conclusively indicate what it is demonstrably not. The review looks at the experimental data, cross-correlated across multiple diagnostics and multiple devices, to delineate the contours of an emerging narrative that is fascinatingly different from the standard narrative, which has guided the consensus in the plasma focus community for several decades, without invalidating it. It raises a question mark over the Fundamental Premise of Controlled Fusion Research, namely, that any fusion reaction having the character of a beam-target process must necessarily be more inefficient than a thermonuclear process with a confined thermal plasma at a suitably high temperature. Open questions that need attention of researchers are highlighted. A future course of action is suggested that individual plasma focus laboratories could adopt in order to positively influence the future growth of research in this field, to the general benefit of not only the controlled fusion research community but also the world at large.

From Poison to Promise: The Evolution of Tetrodotoxin and Its Potential as a Therapeutic

Tetrodotoxin (TTX) is a potent neurotoxin that was first identified in pufferfish but has since been isolated from an array of taxa that host TTX-producing bacteria. However, determining its origin, ecosystem roles, and biomedical applications has challenged researchers for decades. Recognized as a poison and for its lethal effects on humans when ingested, TTX is primarily a powerful sodium channel inhibitor that targets voltage-gated sodium channels, including six of the nine mammalian isoforms. Although lethal doses for humans range from 1.5–2.0 mg TTX (blood level 9 ng/mL), when it is administered at levels far below LD50, TTX exhibits therapeutic properties, especially to treat cancer-related pain, neuropathic pain, and visceral pain. Furthermore, TTX can potentially treat a variety of medical ailments, including heroin and cocaine withdrawal symptoms, spinal cord injuries, brain trauma, and some kinds of tumors. Here, we (i) describe the perplexing evolution and ecology of tetrodotoxin, (ii) review its mechanisms and modes of action, and (iii) offer an overview of the numerous ways it may be applied as a therapeutic. There is much to be explored in these three areas, and we offer ideas for future research that combine evolutionary biology with therapeutics. The TTX system holds great promise as a therapeutic and understanding the origin and chemical ecology of TTX as a poison will only improve its general benefit to humanity.

Analisis Hukum Islam dan UU Wakaf No. 41 Tahun 2004 terhadap Pengalihan Aset Wakaf di PC Persis Pangalengan

Waqf is a legal act of wakif to give up part of his property to be used forever or for a certain period of time. PC Persis Pangalengan District is a religious organization and has an organizational management structure that deals specifically with waqf issues. At PC Persis Pangalengan Subdistrict, the waqf pledge pledged Rp. 65,000,000 in cash waqf funds for the purchase of an ambulance, but because PC Persis Pangalengan received a grant of 1 ambulance from PD Persis Bandung Regency, the allocation of waqf funds was diverted to clinic renovation. The purpose of this study was to determine the transfer of waqf assets in the Pangalengan Islamic Union PC according to Islamic Law and Law no. 41 of 2004 concerning Waqf. This research method uses a qualitative approach. Data collection was done by means of literature study and interviews. It can be concluded that according to Islamic law it states that the majority allow the transfer of waqf assets with a note that it is intended for the general benefit. And according to Law No.41 of 2004 it is permissible because there are more articles that allow the transfer of waqf assets than articles that do not allow the transfer of waqf assets. According to Islamic law, the transfer of waqf assets is permitted with the aim of the usefulness of the object or waqf objects being sustainable even though they are exchanged, sold or converted, as long as they are based on the general benefit. As for according to Law no. 41 of 2004 concerning waqf the transfer of waqf assets is permitted provided that nadzir reports it to BWI. Abstrak. Wakaf adalah perbuatan hukum wakif untuk menyerahkan sebagian harta benda miliknya untuk dimanfaatkan selamanya atau untuk jangka waktu tertentu. PC Persis Kecamatan Pangalengan merupakan sebuah organisasi keagamaan dan memiliki struktur kepengurusan organisasi yang khusus menangani masalah perwakafan. Di PC Persis Kecamatan Pangalengan,pada ikrar wakaf pihak wakif mengikrarkan dana wakaf uang senilai Rp.65.000.000 untuk pembelian mobil ambulance,namun dikarenakan PC Persis Pangalengan mendapatkan hibah 1 buah mobil ambulance dari PD Persis Kabupaten Bandung,maka alokasi dana wakaf tersebut dialihkan untuk renovasi klinik. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui pengalihan aset wakaf di PC Persatuan Islam Pangalengan menurut Hukum Islam dan UU No. 41 Tahun 2004 Tentang Wakaf.Metode Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif. Pengumpulan data dilakukan dengan cara Studi Kepustakaan, dan Wawancara. Dapat disimpulkan menurut hukum Islam menyatakan bahwa mayoritas membolehkan pengalihan aset wakaf dengan catatan bertujuan untuk kemaslahatan umum.Dan menurut Undang-Undang No.41 Tahun 2004 itu dibolehkan karena lebih banyak Pasal yang membolehkan pengalihan aset wakaf dari pada Pasal yang tidak memperbolehkan pengalihan aset wakaf. Menurut hukum Islam pengalihan aset wakaf diperbolehkan dengan tujuan nilai kemanfaatan dari objek atau benda wakaf tersebut dapat berkesinambungan meskipun dengan cara ditukar, dijual atau dialih-fungsikan, selama didasarkan pada kemaslahatan umum. Adapun menurut UU No. 41 Tahun 2004 tentang wakaf pengalihan aset wakaf itu diperbolehkan dengan catatan nadzir melaporkan kepada pihak BWI.

Examples of Floodplain Restoration Evaluation Studies in the Danube River Basin

<p>Countries located in the Danube River Basin (DRB) are in danger of being affected by major catastrophic floods along the Danube and its tributaries. Floodplain restoration measures are among win-win nature-based solutions (NBS) for flood risk reduction but practitioners see their limitations in comparison to technical measures, when looking at their effectiveness and profitability. Within the framework of the EU Interreg Danube Floodplain project, this presentation shows the benefits of floodplain restoration in terms of monetized ecosystem services (ES). Our work focused on multiple ES groups for four study areas in the Danube catchment, located in Czech Republic, Romania, Serbia, and Slovenia. This was done with the help of stakeholder engagement, hydrodynamic models results, and the Toolkit for Ecosystem Service Site-Based Assessment (TESSA). Moreover, the approach was complemented with alternative methodologies (e.g. surveys on social media). Results show positive annual combined benefits of floodplain restoration measures, suggesting the helpfulness of evaluating these NBS through ES assessment. The work done will help increasing the knowledge on floodplain and their ES, and on how to rapidly evaluate them. Moreover, it will bring decision-makers further evidence in favor of floodplain restoration measures to be implemented for a general benefit of the communities.</p>

Does high talker variability improve the learning of non-native phoneme contrasts? A replication

Acquiring non-native speech contrasts can be difficult. A seminal study by Logan, Lively and Pisoni (1991) established the effectiveness of phonetic training for improving non-native speech perception: Japanese learners of English were trained to perceive /r/-/l/ using minimal pairs over 15 training sessions. A pre/post-test design established learning and generalisation. In a follow up study, Lively, Logan and Pisoni (1993) presented further evidence which suggested that talker variability in training stimuli was crucial in leading to greater generalization. These findings have been very influential and “high variability phonetic training” is now a standard methodology in the field. However, while the general benefit of phonetic training is well replicated, the evidence for an advantage of high over lower variability training remains mixed. We propose a large-scale replication of the original studies, through means of a registered report, using updated statistical analyses to confirm whether learners generalise more after phonetic training using multiple talkers over a single talker.

Evaluating Semantic Co-creation by Using a Marker as a Linguistic Constraint Tool in Shared Cognitive Representation Models

Semantic co-creation occurs in the process of communication between two or more people, where human cognitive representation models of the topic of discussion converge. The use of linguistic constraint tools (for example a shared marker) enable participants to focus on communication, improving communicative success. Recent results state that the best communicative success can be achieved if two users can interact in a restricted way, so called team focused interaction hypothesis. Even though the advantage of team focused interaction sounds plausible, it needs to be noted that previous studies enforce the constraint usage. Our study aims at investigating the advantage of using shared markers as a linguistic constraint tool in semantic co-creation, while moving them becomes optional. In our experimental task, based on a shared geographic map as a cognitive representation model, the two participants have to identify a target location, which is only known to a third participant. We assess two main factors, the teams’ use of a shared marker and the two complexity levels of the cognitive representation model. We had hypothesized that sharing a marker should improve communicative success, as communication is more focused. However, our results indicated no general benefit by using a marker as well as team interaction, itself. Our results suggest that the use of a shared marker is an efficient linguistic constraint at higher levels of complexity of the cognitive representation than those tested in our study. Based on this consideration, the team focused interaction hypothesis should be further developed to include a control parameter for the perceived decision complexity of the cognitive representation model.

THE QUR’ANIC PERSPECTIVE ON THE ROLE OF EL-KALB IN GENERATING SOCIAL (IN)COHESION

Since humans are essentially social beings a stimulating social environment is crucial for human development. On the other hand, anything that promotes social distance, conflict, or facilitates social disintegration can be treated as a disruptive variable in the context of overall human development. The events the 21st century civilization witnesses point to the threat of the accelerated disintegration of the local and global social fabric. Multiple addictions, an increase in suicides, marital disfunction, tensions between an individual and the community, racism and xenophobia, insensitivity to the difficulties of the other and the different, terrorism, the continuity of wars, are just some examples of social alienation and growing existential nonsense, to which even the most developed countries have not shown resistance. The tendency of intensifying social incohesion imposes the requirement for seeking an appropriate scientific answer to the question of which constitutive element of the human being and under which circumstances has primacy in the genesis of social (in)cohesion. In this sense, one of the insufficiently researched factors of social (in)cohesion is al-kalb, an unavoidable agent within the general benefit-harm relationship from the point of view of the constitutive sources of Islam. The aim of this paper is to elaborate on and promote the socio-cohesive potential of al-kalb, the explication of which rests primarily on the intra-Qur'anic relations. Such a goal required interpretation of reference ayats, further strengthened by relevant insights from certain areas of modern science. The research findings confirm that al-kalb, as the primary organ of human being, is the initial and most important factor of social (dis)integration and (dis)harmony. For the purposes of this paper, a methodological approach, based on a combination of traditional and rational tafsir and the application of the thematic tafsir method, was used (Halilović, 2015).

PIPA's and Essential Human Behavior

Frequently in one’s mental life, a newly-noticed item pairs with an item already in mind --- for example the second word in a rhyme --- and the pairing evokes a small positive affect. For the affect to occur, the brain must contain circuitry connecting the cognitive with the affective that is activated when the second item overlaps the first. On some occasions the positive affects evoked are easily noticed but more commonly they are subdued --- but they make up for smallness by abundance. For example, when one enters a familiar room, recognition events, (perception matching memory) are innumerable, the affects merge, and a continuous effect, the “comfort of the familiar” is sensed. Many other episodes of mild satisfaction are produced in a similar way. The overall picture is of one’s daily affairs running on a day-long substrate of innumerable pairings. The pairings make a healthy person more upbeat than an anhedonic person, they contribute to each person’s personality traits, and the pleasure involved is the basic ingredient underlying higher-level motivations. A general benefit will be gained if people become more aware of this pervasive affect.