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This paper aims to compare and analyse the aspects of Shariah screening methodologies within the selected Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries as well as comparing the methodologies with the USA, and to examine how Shariah screening methodologies affect financing and investing activities of a firm.

Shariah screening methodologies within the selected GCC countries and between the GCC countries and the USA are compared on the basis of the data collected from secondary sources.

Design, qualification and Shariah governance set the Shariah screening methodologies within the GCC countries apart. Feasibility, duration, economic viability and funds required differentiate these Shariah screening methodologies between the GCC countries and the USA. Shariah screening methodologies implied in the USA is more stringent than in the GCC countries.

The suggestions in this study include using a longer research timeline, examining many more number of countries’ Shariah screening methodologies and exploring other types of Shariah screening methodologies.

The possibility of generalising the implementation of strict and uniform Shariah screening methodologies across all the country-specific Shariah indices amongst Muslim nations, globally, is likely to benefit all the Muslim countries, by strengthening the understanding, interaction and economic co-operation amongst these countries.

People’s needs can be tended to if Maqasid Al-Shariah (objectives of Shariah) is achieved through flexibility, dynamism and creativity within the social policy.

Aspects of Shariah screening methodologies are compared and contrasted within the selected GCC countries as well as between the GCC countries and the United States and the role of Shariah screening methodologies is examined in order to determine the extent of what is Shariah-Compliant and what is Non-Shariah Compliant for a firm.

This study explores the practical application of the Shariah screening process and how it could be enhanced by converging the same with the ethical screening of stocks.

This study adopts a qualitative research methodology by combining the qualitative descriptive approach and content analysis.

The findings of this research suggest that there is scope to converge ethical screening of stocks with Shariah Screening as the lex loci applicable to Shariah screening is derived from Shariah, which considers ethics as part of determining its rules.

The data from this study reveal several practical applications, the ultimate goal of which is to help the policymakers and stakeholders understand the relevance of the Shariah screening of stocks and get a streamlined screening process, paving the way to enhance the same using ethical screening criteria to develop its function to become much more relevant irrespective of the denomination of faiths.

This is original research, which is expected to contribute to understanding the extent to which Shariah screening can be enhanced by integrating the ethical stock screening dimension to it.

If aeroplanes and passengers, as well as property and people on the ground are to be protected, potential perpetrators of aviation terrorism must be prevented from breaching security checkpoints and gaining access to ‘secure’ airport areas and to aircrafts. Given the interconnectedness of the air transportation system, a sufficiently high level of security must be provided throughout the entire system. In this chapter we examine terrorism issues relevant to airline and airport security internationally, a topic that has received much attention since 9/11. Understanding the key issues is crucial in evaluating the various methods of regulating and providing aviation safety and security. The purpose of this chapter is to review the key features of the Aviation and Transportation Security Act and the characteristics of the resulting security policy. Then we examine terrorism, previous terrorists' acts against aviation as well as current and future aviation threats. A summary of our major points completes the chapter.

At airport security checkpoints, baggage screening is aimed to prevent transportation of prohibited and potentially dangerous items. Observing the projection images generated by X-rays scanner is a critical method. However, when multiple objects are stacked on top of each other, distinguishing objects only by a two-dimensional picture is difficult, which prompts the demand for more precise imaging technology to be investigated for use. Reconstructing from 2D X-ray images to 3D-computed tomography (CT) volumes is a reliable solution.

To more accurately distinguish the specific contour shape of items when stacked, multi-information fusion network (MFCT-GAN) based on generative adversarial network (GAN) and U-like network (U-NET) is proposed to reconstruct from two biplanar orthogonal X-ray projections into 3D CT volumes. The authors use three modules to enhance the reconstruction qualitative and quantitative effects, compared with the original network. The skip connection modification (SCM) and multi-channels residual dense block (MRDB) enable the network to extract more feature information and learn deeper with high efficiency; the introduction of subjective loss enables the network to focus on the structural similarity (SSIM) of images during training.

On account of the fusion of multiple information, MFCT-GAN can significantly improve the value of quantitative indexes and distinguish contour explicitly between different targets. In particular, SCM enables features more reasonable and accurate when expanded into three dimensions. The appliance of MRDB can alleviate problem of slow optimization during the late training period, as well as reduce the computational cost. The introduction of subjective loss guides network to retain more high-frequency information, which makes the rendered CT volumes clearer in details.

The authors' proposed MFCT-GAN is able to restore the 3D shapes of different objects greatly based on biplanar projections. This is helpful in security check places, where X-ray images of stacked objects need to be distinguished from the presence of prohibited objects. The authors adopt three new modules, SCM, MRDB and subjective loss, as well as analyze the role the modules play in 3D reconstruction. Results show a significant improvement on the reconstruction both in objective and subjective effects.

The purpose of this paper is to present improvements in X‐ray equipment, which are leading to wider use.

Developments in X‐ray sources and detectors are described. This is followed by a review of the more innovative equipment available for security and industrial applications.

Technological developments have produced smaller, lighter X‐ray systems and extended their applications to on‐site work. Multiple wavelength systems distinguish between different materials, and stereo systems remove ambiguities from X‐ray security imaging and allow 3D gauging of industrial components.

The paper highlights the availability of portable X‐ray systems and explains the underlying technology.

The purpose of this paper is to apply technical analysis to some leading Islamic indices and explore if these indices are amenable to the same kind of analysis as applied to conventional indices and whether technical analysis, in contrast with fundamental analysis, produces distinct or superior return.

In this paper, some basic tools of TA to Dow Jones Islamic Market US Index (IMUS) is applied in comparison with the three major market indices: Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 Index and NASDAQ 100. For TA, we apply moving averages, MACD and Stochastics as indicators. The paper is written particularly for those with interest in Islamic finance, but not necessarily familiar with TA. This paper thus also explores some Shariah-related issues in effectively applying TA.

The comparative analysis shows that the performance based on IMUS can be improved, when TA is applied.

Robust tools of TA play an important role in market research. This paper probably is the first to apply TA in the context of Islamic finance. Because the scope of this paper is limited (only Dow Jones Islamic USA Index and comparison with three leading market indices), more in-depth research is needed and possible, which it is hoped this paper will encourage.

The successful application of the basic TA tools to Islamic index will encourage the practitioners of Islamic finance to research and explore further uses and effectiveness of TA on other Islamic products.

This paper is probably the first application of TA to Islamic finance markets, written especially for those who take active interest in the financial market from Islamic perspective.

The Android pattern lock screen (or graphical password) is a popular user authentication method that relies on the advantages provided by the visual representation of a password, which enhance its memorability. Graphical passwords are vulnerable to attacks (e.g. shoulder surfing); thus, the need for more complex passwords becomes apparent. This paper aims to focus on the features that constitute a usable and secure pattern and investigate the existence of heuristic and physical rules that possibly dictate the formation of a pattern.

The authors conducted a survey to study the users’ understanding of the security and usability of the pattern lock screen. The authors developed an Android application that collects graphical passwords, by simulating user authentication in a mobile device. This avoids any potential bias that is introduced when the survey participants are not interacting with a mobile device while forming graphical passwords (e.g. in Web or hard-copy surveys).

The findings verify and enrich previous knowledge for graphical passwords, namely, that users mostly prefer usability than security. Using the survey results, the authors demonstrate how biased input impairs security by shrinking the available password space.

The sample’s demographics may affect our findings. Therefore, future work can focus on the replication of our work in a sample with different demographics.

The authors define metrics that measure the usability of a pattern (handedness, directionality and symmetry) and investigate their impact to its formation. The authors propose a security assessment scheme using features in a pattern (e.g. the existence of knight moves or overlapping nodes) to evaluate its security strengths.

This study aims to validate a conceptual definition of airportscape and develop a multidimensional scale that integrates servicescape and service quality dimensions to comprehensively investigate airport service management. In addition, this study examines the structural relationships amongst airportscape, sense of place, airport image and destination image.

Covariance-based structural equation modelling has been used. This study has collected the responses from 1,189 Thai respondents who had their experience in an international airport in the past 12 months.

Key findings reveal the set of three airportscape attributes which positively influenced the air traveller’s perceived sense of place. Four other dimensions were found to positively influence the airport image. The results also suggested the positive relationships amongst sense of place, airport image and destination image. Sense of place strongly predicted the destination image and airport image and was found to be an important mediator of the relationship between airportscape dimension and perceived image variables.

This study validates the airportscape scale and introduces “sense of place”, a concept that has not been objectively investigated in the airport context, and in relation to tourism. The findings provide insights to airport managers and tourism authorities by examining areas that highlight an airport’s sense of place and representation of the destination. The study also strengthens the theoretical link between airport and tourism knowledge, by showing that the airport’s sense of place can strongly influence airport image and destination image. The result ascertains that the airport can be a representative of a destination through the creation of a sense of place.

本研究旨在確定機å ´景觀的概念性定義, 並開發一個將服åå ´景和服å品質維度整合在一起的多維尺度, 為機å ´的服å管理調查帶來全面性。此外, 研究還調查了機å ´景觀、地方感、機å ´形象和目的地形象之間的結構關係。

æ 用基於協方差的結構方程建模。本研究收集了曾在過去12個月中體驗過國際機å ´的1189名泰國受訪者的回答。

關é?µ結果揭示了三個機å ´景觀屬性的集合, 這些屬性對航空旅行者的感知地方感產生了ç©?極影響。 其他四個維度被發現對機å ´形象產生ç©?極影響。結果還表明, 地方感、機å ´形象和目的地形象之間存在正相關關係。地方感å¼·烈地預測了目的地形象和機å ´形象, 並被發現是機å ´景觀維度與感知形象變量之間關係的重要中介。

研究確定了機å ´景觀尺度, 並引入了“地方感”, 這是一個尚未在機å ´背景內和旅遊相關領域客觀研究的概念。研究結果é¡釋了突出機å ´地方感並代表目的地的項目和區域, 為機å ´管理者和旅遊當局提供洞察。研究還表明, 機å ´的地方感可以極大地影響機å ´形象和目的地形象, 從而加å¼·機å ´與旅遊認知之間的理論聯繫。研究結果發現, 通過構建地方感, 機å ´可以成為目的地的一個代表。

Este estudio tiene como objetivo validar una definición conceptual del paisaje aeroportuario y desarrollar una escala multidimensional que integre el paisaje de servicios y las dimensiones de la calidad del servicio con el fin de aportar exhaustividad a la investigación de gestión de servicios del aeropuerto. Además, el estudio examina las relaciones estructurales entre el paisaje aeroportuario, la percepción del lugar, la imagen del aeropuerto y la imagen del destino.

Se ha empleado el modelado de ecuaciones estructurales basado en covarianza. Este estudio ha recopilado las respuestas de 1.189 encuestados tailandeses que tuvieron su experiencia en un aeropuerto internacional en los últimos 12 meses.

Los hallazgos clave revelan el conjunto de tres atributos del paisaje del aeropuerto que influyeron positivamente en la percepción del sentido de lugar del viajero aéreo. Se encontró que otras cuatro dimensiones influyen positivamente en la imagen del aeropuerto. Los resultados también sugirieron las relaciones positivas entre el sentido de lugar, la imagen del aeropuerto y la imagen del destino. El sentido del lugar predijo fuertemente la imagen del destino y la imagen del aeropuerto, y se encontró que era un mediador importante de la relación entre la dimensión del paisaje del aeropuerto y las variables de la imagen percibida.

El estudio valida la escala del paisaje del aeropuerto e introduce la “percepción del lugar”, concepto que no ha sido investigado objetivamente en el contexto aeroportuario y en relación con el turismo. Los resultados proporcionan información a los gestores de los aeropuertos y a las autoridades turísticas al elaborar elementos y áreas que destacan el sentido del lugar del aeropuerto y representan el destino. El estudio también refuerza el vínculo teórico entre el conocimiento del aeropuerto y el turismo, al mostrar que el sentido del lugar del aeropuerto puede influir fuertemente en la imagen de este y en la imagen del destino. El resultado demuestra que el aeropuerto puede ser representativo de un destino a través de la creación de un paisaje.