Conceptualisation of Standard Terms under Qatari Contract Law in Lights of International Trends

Standard terms are widely used in making contracts at national and international levels. The Qatari Civil Code (QCC) does not govern such terms directly. Instead, it associates them with adhesion contracts, which also govern model contracts. In contrast, the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts (UPICC) and the Principles of European Contract Law (PECL) expressly recognise contracting under standard terms. This article first examines the concept of an adhesion contract under QCC in lights of the historical origin of this contract as well as its jurisprudential and judicial interpretation in light of its use in other jurisdictions, including France, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. It then analyses the concept and requirements of standard terms under QCC and the aforementioned international instruments. Based on the comparative analysis of the rules of standard terms under all these instruments, this article recommends that the Qatari legislature should discard standard terms from adhesion contracts

The unseen battle: A global call to safeguard the mental well-being of Palestinian children

The long-standing and complex Israeli-Palestinian conflict has led to the widespread displacement of Palestinians and resulted in ongoing challenges for the Palestinian population (Feliciana, 2011). It has had a lasting impact on the region, affecting the lives and well-being of its inhabitants. The recent intensification of the Palestine conflict has heightened uncertainty and fear, with ongoing violence including air raids and ground incursions taking a heavy toll, particularly on children. The increased risk of displacement, destruction of homes, and loss of family members have deepened the mental health challenges for these young individuals. The prolonged conflict has inflicted substantial trauma on children, the most vulnerable group affected. This letter aims to explore the extensive impact of war on the mental health of Palestinian children. It summarizes the prevalence of mental disorders and highlights the looming risk of a mental health epidemic in this group. The letter also discusses approaches for identifying and managing their psychological needs and highlights the crucial role of the international community in mitigating long-term impacts.Open access funding for this article was kindly provided by Qatar National Library.Scopu

School Leadership 4.0: Are We Ready?

This study explores the relevance of Leadership 4.0 in the context of Education 4.0 for school leaders. By investigating school leaders’ knowledge and perceptions of Education 4.0, the study provides insights into their understanding and preparedness for this transformative shift. Four focus group interviews were conducted with 16 school principals from 8 countries after a webinar on Education 4.0. The findings indicate that school leaders had limited prior knowledge but were familiar with related terms. Concerns include potential impacts on physical schooling, teacher and student well-being, and educational inequalities. Despite concerns, school leaders recognized the benefits of Education 4.0, emphasizing the importance of empowering themselves and teachers with various leadership skills. Agile leadership emerged as crucial for guiding Education 4.0, focusing on crisis management, planned professional development, and leveraging collective community capacity. The study underscores the need for a paradigm shift in policy structures to enhance collaboration and co-construction of reform agendas, emphasizing the urgency of enhancing school leaders’ awareness and capacity for Education 4.0 challenges

Domain Specific Transformers-Based Prioritization of Readmission for Patients in Healthcare

Hospital re-admissions are not only resource-intensive but also a key indicator of healthcare quality. Therefore, there is a critical need to enhance the efficiency of healthcare systems by accurately identifying patients at a higher risk of readmission. While several prediction models were built before for predicting the re-admission of patients, no research study focused on the prioritization of patient readmissions. Thus, in this research, we focused on developing a predictive model to prioritize the readmissions of patients based on their discharge summaries. To enhance the model's performance and address class imbalance problems in this dataset, various data balancing techniques were investigated. BioBERT was utilized for feature extraction during model training. The capabilities of Optuna framework were leveraged for hyperparameter optimization. By utilizing this framework, we significantly reduced training time and computational resources. The predictive model exhibits remarkable performance when evaluated on the testing dataset. The experimental results signify the model's potential to effectively prioritize patient re-admissions, thereby contributing to more informed and efficient healthcare decision-making processes

Enhancing the notification system for surveillance of infectious diseases in Qatar during the FIFA World Cup 2022: project overview

In 2022, the Surveillance Department of the Ministry of Public Health in Qatar adopted an integrated project called the Notification Enhancement Project (NEP) to enhance the infectious disease notification system. Efficient surveillance and notification promote early alerts and allow immediate interference in reducing morbidity and mortality from outbreaks. The project was designed to improve the knowledge, attitudes, practices, and notification processes of healthcare workers in Qatar by increasing their reporting rates. The strategy for comprehensively enhancing notifications was based on the observation and evaluation of the current notification system, the implementation of interventions, and post-evaluation follow-up. To implement the project, we relied on three aspects: effective methods used in previous relevant studies through a literature review, feedback received from healthcare workers, and suggestions from public health surveillance experts from the Ministry of Public Health, Qatar. A preassessment was conducted through an online survey by the Ministry of Public Health. The effectiveness of the different interventions was assessed by analyzing the data of notified patients reported through the Disease Surveillance and Reporting Electronic System. Pre- and postintervention assessments were performed by comparing the percentage of patients notified by healthcare providers with that of patients confirmed by healthcare providers in the laboratory to compare the notification rates over three time periods between January and December 2022. There was significant improvement in the infectious disease notification process. A comparison before and after the implementation of the interventions revealed an increase in the communicable disease notification rate among healthcare workers. Pre- and postintervention data were compared. Infectious disease notification activities by healthcare workers increased from 2.5% between January and May 2022 to 41.4% between November and December 2022. This study highlights the efficiency of different interventions in correcting the underreporting of infectious diseases. Our findings suggest that implementing the Notification Enhancement Project significantly improves notification rates. We recommend continuing interventions through constant education and training, maintaining solid communication with HCWs through regular reminder emails and feedback, periodic assessment of the electronic notification system, and engagement of healthcare workers and other stakeholders to sustain and expand progress achieved through continuous evaluation.Open Access funding for this article was provided by the Qatar National Library

Newsletter February 2024

The SESRI Monthly Newsletter includes the institute's latest news, studies, updates, achievements, and activities. Download and stay up to date with SESRI's news

المدرسة وتحديات الرقمنة كيف نحافظ على ريادة المدرسة في عصر الرقمنة؟

تكمن أهمية هذا البحث في كونه يبحث في مدى مساهمة المدرسة في تطوير المجتمع في ظل ظهور تقنيات التواصل الحديثة وما يترتب عنها من مخاطر على الناشئة؛ وذلك من خلال التوقف على دورها في التربية على قيم المواطنة الرقمية من خلال الأنشطة التي تنظمها كل سنة من أجل تحسيس التلاميذ بالمخاطر المترتبة عن الاستعمال الغير السوي للأنترنيت وترشيدهم على السلوكيات والقيم التي يجب أن يتحلى بها كل من يستعملها. كما يهدف كذلك إلى الوقوف على درجة ربط الأسر والأطر التربوية بين غياب دور المدرسة وتفشي الظواهر السلبية في المجتمع حالة درعة تافيلالت بالمغرب. وفي الأخير نهدف إلى تقديم بعض التوصيات التي من شأنها أن تحافظ على صورة وريادة المدرسة أمام تحديات الرقمنة

Green synthesized zinc oxide nanoparticles for removal of carbamazepine in water and soil systems

During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a significant increase in pharmaceutical releases (4 %), which created a pressing global need for solutions. In this study, we explored the use of zinc oxide nanoparticles (GS-ZnONPs) derived from neem (Azadirachta indica) leaves for separating antiepileptic drug carbamazepine (CBZ) from wastewater. CBZ is a major emerging pollutant in wastewater that can be reused for various purposes, including food production and drinking water. The study found that the GS-ZnONPs were effective in removing CBZ from water, with an adsorption capacity of 27.55 mg g−1 at room temperature. The GS-ZnONPs, under optimal conditions of pH 5.0, 100 mg of adsorbent, and 12 mg L−1 of CBZ at 25 °C ± 2 °C, demonstrated a remarkable removal efficiency, successfully eliminating 92.89 % of CBZ from water. Additionally, the study found that CBZ binds strongly to GS-ZnONPs, making them effective for removing CBZ from soil as well. The results suggest that GS-ZnONPs synthesized from neem leaves could be a low-cost and sustainable solution for removing emerging pollutants from wastewater and soil. Future studies could investigate the adsorption mechanisms, functional groups, respective pH ranges, and reuse of these low-cost adsorbents to further optimize their efficiency in tackling emerging pollutants

BARRIERS AND DRIVERS OF GREEN BUILDING DEVELOPMENT IN QATAR

In the context of growing global concern for environmental conservation and sustainable urban development, the adoption of Green Building (GB) practices is emerging as a pivotal solution. Built environment in Qatar is highly reliant on energy from nonrenewable sources, hence, necessitating sustainable development in all areas of this sector, especially buildings. With a specific focus on Qatar, this study aims to investigate the intricate web of drivers and barriers that affect the development of Green Buildings (GBs). Within this context, 21 barriers and 17 drivers have been recognized through literature review. Using a questionnaire survey, the opinions of experts were used to evaluate the identified factors (that is, drivers and barriers) on a Likert 5-point scale. Relative importance of GB drivers and barriers in the Qatari context is determined as a result of Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) analysis. It has been found that the key drivers are developing resilient and climate-responsive buildings in Qatar, improved indoor air quality, and the potential for increased profits. The key barriers are lack of GB demand from the local market, lack of contractor's experience regarding GB technologies, and lack of contractor's understanding regarding GB specifications. This study will contribute to a better understanding of the nature of the GB development in Qatar, enabling decision-makers to ease the process as well as initiate the policy-making necessary for increased uptake of such projects. In theoretical terms, the findings of this study will contribute to the body of knowledge related to GB projects

Development of the Automatic Star-Delta starter

This paper studies the star-delta method for starting induction motors with a focus on its connection method and its components to develop this circuit to reduce its cost without affecting its performance and reliability or damaging the components of the induction motor. This paper includes a new connection method to change the induction motor coil connection from star to delta and a different design of a new electrical power auxiliary contact to do it. This paper includes numerical simulations of the new connection method using the "CADE SIMU" program, a different design of electrical power auxiliary contact, and its mechanical simulation using the "SolidWorks" program. This paper includes the new connection with a new component method that was tested in the electrical machines' lab on an induction motor. The results show the success of the new method, with a total cost reduction of about 20% from the traditional automatic star-delta starter and about 60% from the STAR contactor cost, without any bad effect on the induction motor or automatic function of the method