Calcium phosphate is an ideal bone substitute material that is widely used for bone repair due to its excellent biological properties including biocompatibility and osteoconductivity. In order to improve the properties of calcium phosphate materials for clinical use, a new injectable self-hardened synthetic bone cement (Osteopaste) was developed. Osteopaste consists of tetra-calcium phosphate (TTCP) and tricalcium phosphate (TCP) powder. It was intended for the treatment of bone fracture or reconstruction of bone defects. The objective of this study was to compare bone formation between Osteopaste and commercialized synthetic bone grafts; JectOS (calcium phosphate) and MIIG-X3 (calcium sulphate) at three different assessment periods. The first phase of the study was to establish the critical size defect in New Zealand White rabbit model. The second phase involved the implantation of Osteopaste, JectOs and MIIG-X3 in critical size defects. Thirty-nine New Zealand White rabbits were divided into four groups (Osteopaste, JectOs, MIIG-X3 and sham). Each group was further divided into three subgroups according to the assessment period either at 6, 12 or 24 weeks. Each subgroup consisted of four rabbits except the sham group which consisted of only one rabbit. A critical size defect of approximately 4.5 mm (width) X 9.0 mm (length) was created at the proximal tibial metaphysis of rabbit's right leg and then implanted with either Osteopaste, JectOs or MIIG-X3. At each assessment period, plain radiograph and computed tomography (CT) scan were performed before the animals were sacrificed for undecalcified histology, histomorphometry and scanning electron microscopy assessments. Using the histomorphometric data, the mean percentage of new bone areas and the length of unbridged defects were compared between groups. In this study, a simple and safe method for performing critical size defect at proximal tibial metaphysis was established. The Osteopaste group exhibited radiographic density in between JectOS and MIIG-X3. The critical size defect in Osteopaste group was bridged by new bone at 12 weeks. In MIIG-X3 group, the defect was bridged at 24 weeks whereas in JectOS group, the defect was not bridged at all assessment periods. New bone area was the largest in MIIG-X3 group followed by Osteopaste and JectOS groups. Osteopaste had formed direct bonding with host bone without intervening soft tissue compared to JectOS and MilG-X3. There were significant differences in new bone area percentages between Osteopaste, JectOs and MIIG-X3 at 6, 12 and 24 weeks post-surgery (P<0.0001 ). In conclusion, the performance of Osteopaste to promote new bone formation is in between JectOS and MIIG-X3.

Internal Shariah audit in Yemen, which is neither centralised nor governed by the Central bank of Yemen (CBY), had caused the adoption of different standards and guidelines as well as policies and practices by Islamic banks. Previous studies found gaps in the banks' internal audit, such as Expectation-Performance Gap, Deficient Performance Gap and Deficient Standards Gap. This study examined the effectiveness of internal Shariah audit in Islamic Banks in Yemen by exploring the mutual relationship between the internal Shariah audit and key elements and principles as factors of Shariah governance based on the Institutional Theory. The Institutional Theory discusses the organisation's normative pressure, coercive pressure, and mimetic pressures arising from the surrounding environment affecting and interacting with the Islamic bank. This research aims to examine their direct impact on internal audit effectiveness regarding SSB, internal Shariah audit mechanism, internal Shariah auditor requirements and, finally, internal Shariah audit practices. In addition, the research aims to assess the current Islamic Bank internal Shariah audit policies and practices adoption of external regulatory requirements and best practices. The third objective is to assess the coherence of the internal Shariah audit framework and effectiveness in Islamic banks based in Yemen to enable internal Shariah audit effectiveness. The primary analysis technique is the pattern matching technique of documented policies and procedures and interview findings for comparing predicted patterns with ones that have been empirically observed and identifying any variance of gaps. The study found the lack of coordination and harmony between external and internal regulatory perspectives on internal Shariah audit requirements as well as the lack of similarity of standardization across Islamic Banks are indicative of lack of coherence of internal audit effectiveness within a self (institution) governance rather than an external governance system. It presents an insightful, unique finding that may affect coherent, consistent, and comparable internal Shariah audit effectiveness development among Islamic banks in Yemen. This study concluded that Institutional Theory is relevant to describe and distinguish the pressures exhibited by the Islamic bank of Yemen and Saba Islamic bank. An importance and uniqueness of this study is that both pertinent external and internal factors related to internal Shariah audit effectiveness are evaluated. This is because analysing only one or a few factors in evaluating any function effectiveness in prior studies may not lead to reliable results. In addition, using primary data along with interviewing key staff in both banks strengthen the findings to be useful as policy guidance for regulators and for future research.

This study investigates the relationship between self-regulated learning strategies and self-efficacy among Kulliyyah of Human Sciences IIUM undergraduate students. It also attempts to identify the common self-regulated learning strategies that students use during their study and identify the level of self-efficacy. Lastly, it also investigates if there is a re1ationship between self-regulated ]earning strategies and self-efficacy with the variables of gender, CGPA and major. The study utilizes two questionnaires. The first measures self-regulated learning strategies and the second questionnaire measures students' level of self-efficacy. A stratified random sampling was used to se1ect 293 undergraduate students from the Ku1liyyah of Human Sciences. Descriptive statistics, correlational ana1ysis and cross tabulation are used to analyze the data. Findings provide evidence that respondents frequently use some strategies like "keeping records and monitoring", "reviewing texts, notes and test" in their study with the majority of the students being at the moderate ]eve] of self-efficacy. The study also shows that there is a significant relationship between self-regulated learning strategies and self-efficacy. As for gender and CGPA they did not correlate significantly with self-regulated learning strategies, while major has significant relationship with self-regulated learning strategies. Finally, there is no significant relationship between self-efficacy and variables of gender and CGP A. In contrast, the ]eve] of self-efficacy has a significant relationship with majors.

Telecommunications remain one of the most strategic economic sectors that assume prominence in the current discourses on growth and integration of national economies and transnational production. An effective telecommunications system enables countries to achieve impressive socio-economic gains. However, the Nigerian telecommunications system under state monopoly has been characterized as grossly inefficient and financially a burden on the government, among others. The government has placed a conscious strategy towards regulatory reforms in the sector. The reforms emphasize on market opening by allowing entry of private and transnational operators into the country's telecommunications market, which will eventually lead to a transformation within the industry. This study attempts to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the transformation in Nigeria's telecommunications industry, with emphasis on the impact towards economic growth. The privatization policy in this sector that resulted in the emergence of private and transnational firms, led to telephone services being more easily accessible, cost effective and competitive amongst the operators. The central argument of this study is that a significant correlation exists between market competition and growth, showing Nigerian telecommunications has been positively affected by the new deregulation policy. The positive impact of deregulations was proven by the growth rate of the selected indicators that were arranged into two broad dimensions: economic and technological dimensions. The economic dimension focuses on some economic variables, namely the sector's investment growth rate and revenue percentage compared to GDP, while the technological dimension gives emphasis towards technological and ICT related indicators, to be precise, advanced telecommunications infrastructure and the emergence of new telecommunication services.

This dissertation presents a comprehensive study of the issue of talfiq (concoction) in Islamic banking contracts. Many people believe that Islamic banking is merely a replication of conventional banking and does not meet the spirit (maqasid) of shariah due to the similarities between Islamic finance products and conventional usurious products in their economic effects. The study is divided into five chapters, with the first chapter introducing the problem and the structure of the dissertation .The second chapter delves into the concepts of ijtihad, taq?ld, and ift??, clarifying the terms and conditions related to each concept. The third chapter provides a detailed explanation of the concept of talfiq and its types, as well as the difference between talfiq and other related terms in Islamic jurisprudence .The forth chapter discusses the emergence of Islamic banking and whether adopting an approach of h?lah in forming Islamic financial contracts is acceptable. It also explains why Islamic banks are forced to imitate conventional banking and the economic consequences of such imitation .The fifth chapter provides a critical analysis of the main Islamic financial contracts, including mur?baha, ig?rah muntahia bi’taml?k, and mush?rakah mutan?qisah. The study has adopted an inductive approach in gathering the related information. It also applied an analytic method to discuss the arguments and deduce its results. The study concludes that the main reason why Islamic banks are forced to imitate conventional ones is the banking system, where finance is connected with money creation. Therefore, adopting a different system that separates money creation from finance is necessary to provide authentic halal products.