Qatar Exoplanet Survey : Qatar-3b, Qatar-4b and Qatar-5b

We report the discovery of Qatar-3b, Qatar-4b, and Qatar-5b, three new transiting planets identified by the Qatar Exoplanet Survey (QES). The three planets belong to the hot Jupiter family, with orbital periods of $P_{Q3b}$=2.50792 days, $P_{Q4b}$=1.80539 days, and $P_{Q5b}$=2.87923 days. Follow-up spectroscopic observations reveal the masses of the planets to be $M_{Q3b}$=4.31$\pm0.47$ $M_{\rm J}$, $M_{Q4b}$=6.10$\pm0.54$ $M_{\rm J}$, and $M_{Q5b}$ = 4.32$\pm0.18$ $M_{\rm J}$, while model fits to the transit light curves yield radii of $R_{Q3b}$ = 1.096$\pm0.14$ $R_{\rm J}$, $R_{Q4b}$ = 1.135$\pm0.11$ $R_{\rm J}$, and $R_{Q5b}$ = 1.107$\pm0.064$ $R_{\rm J}$. The host stars are low-mass main sequence stars with masses and radii $M_{Q3}$ = 1.145$\pm0.064$ $M_{\odot}$, $M_{Q4}$ = 0.896$\pm0.048$ $M_{\odot}$, $M_{Q5}$ = 1.128$\pm0.056$ $M_{\odot}$ and $R_{Q3}$ = 1.272$\pm0.14$ $R_{\odot}$, $R_{Q4}$ = 0.849$\pm0.063$ $R_{\odot}$ and $R_{Q5}$ = 1.076$\pm0.051$ $R_{\odot}$ for Qatar-3, 4 and 5 respectively. The V magnitudes of the three host stars are $V_{Q3}$=12.88, $V_{Q4}$=13.60, and $V_{Q5}$=12.82. All three new planets can be classified as heavy hot Jupiters (M > 4 $M_{J}$).Comment: 13Pages, 8Figure

Qatar Interprofessional Health Council

The QIHC was formed in September 2009 by a small group of representatives from health care education and delivery institutions in Qatar who shared a common desire for the delivery of high quality interprofessional health care education in this country. The group has developed a 3-year plan to improve interprofessional clinical education in Qatar. Plans for delivery will be described which will be facilitated by a grant awarded by the Qatar National Research Fund. Background and Description of the QIHC: The Qatar Interprofessional Healthcare Council (QIHC) was formed in 2009 by a group of representatives from the following educational and healthcare institutions: University of Calgary-Qatar School of Nursing Weill Cornell Medical College-Qatar College of the North Atlantic-Qatar Qatar University College of Pharmacy Hamad Medical Corp. (public healthcare institution) Sidra Medical and Research Center (publicly funded, private healthcare facility in planning stages) QIHC’s 3-year Plan and Description of Application and Award of Grant Funding The group is made up of high-ranking representatives from each of these institutions, and meets on a monthly basis. The group initially agreed on a definition of Interprofessional Education (IPE) developed a mutually-agreed upon mission, vision, and goals. Following this the QIHC formulated a 3-year plan to embed interprofessional collaboration into healthcare education and professional practice in Qatar. The group has successfully implemented the first year’s plan and consider that their efforts have been very successful to date. Efforts included a series of workshops presented by a panel from the QIHC to be presented at each academic institution. Participants were students and faculty from the various clinical educational facilities in Qatar, and the presentations have been very well received by both students and faculty. There was very active participation by the audience in each presentation and a great deal of interest and support from both faculty and students for the future development of IPE activities among the QIHC stakeholders. Implementation of the plan to date as well as future plans will be discussed. Challenges in the formation of the country-wide IPE group will be discussed as well as a description of how these challenges were overcome. This year the QIHC applied for and was awarded a substantial grant from the Qatar National Research Fund to carry out its 3-year plan to advance IPE and improve interprofessional healthcare delivery in Qatar. This will greatly assist the QIHC in being able to successfully implement its plan. The 3-year plan and the plans to use the grant funding to accomplish this and measure its success will be described.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

The Changing Geopolitics in the Arab World: Implications of the 2017 Gulf Crisis for Business

The international community was caught by surprise on 5 June 2017 when Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt severed diplomatic ties with Qatar, accusing it of destabilizing the region. More than one year after this diplomatic rift, several questions remain unaddressed. This study focuses on the regional business costs of the year-long blockade on Qatar. We split the sample to compare the stock market performances of Qatar and its Middle Eastern neighbors before and after the Saudi-led Qatar boycott. We focus our attention on the conditional volatility process of stock market returns and risks related to financial interconnectedness. We show that the Gulf crisis had the most adverse impact on Qatar together with Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Although not to the same degree as these three countries, Bahrain and Egypt were also harmfully affected. But shocks to the volatility process tend to have short-lasting effects. Moreover, the total volatility spillovers to and from others increase but moderately after the blockade. Overall, the quartet lobbying efforts did not achieve the intended result. Our findings underscore Qatar's economic vulnerability but also the successful resilience strategy of this tiny state. The coordinated diplomatic efforts of Qatar have been able to fight the economic and political embargo

Qatar-2: A K dwarf orbited by a transiting hot Jupiter and a more massive companion in an outer orbit

We report the discovery and initial characterization of Qatar-2b, a hot Jupiter transiting a V = 13.3 mag K dwarf in a circular orbit with a short period, P_ b = 1.34 days. The mass and radius of Qatar-2b are M_p = 2.49 M_j and R_p = 1.14 R_j, respectively. Radial-velocity monitoring of Qatar-2 over a span of 153 days revealed the presence of a second companion in an outer orbit. The Systemic Console yielded plausible orbits for the outer companion, with periods on the order of a year and a companion mass of at least several M_j. Thus Qatar-2 joins the short but growing list of systems with a transiting hot Jupiter and an outer companion with a much longer period. This system architecture is in sharp contrast to that found by Kepler for multi-transiting systems, which are dominated by objects smaller than Neptune, usually with tightly spaced orbits that must be nearly coplanar

Qatar and the 2022 FIFA World Cup: Kick-starting a Global Economy

Overview: December 2, 2010 was my father’s fifty-fifth birthday. He and I were expecting the greatest present that would be given to the United States in a long time. The 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding was that day, and we were giddy waiting for it to be awarded to the United States. We were planning on going together in twelve years, to the games because we love soccer and the United States men’s national team. We have watched every televised game that they have played for years now and were still excited from the previous World Cup. And now, we thought the United States was about to host another World Cup and we could actually be there. Needless to say, we were disappointed when on December 2, 2010 in Zurich, Switzerland FIFA President Sepp Blatter announced that the 2018 FIFA World Cup would be awarded to Russia and that the 2022 FIFA World Cup was awarded to Qatar (Trecker 1-4). According to an article from FIFA’s official webpage, in the voting process one nation was eliminated each round until only one host remained. In the final round of the 2022 voting, Qatar defeated the United States in a vote of 14-8 by obtaining an absolute majority (8). Qatar’s hopes and dreams of bringing one of the world’s greatest sporting events to the Middle East came true. My first reaction was anger because my father might never live to see a World Cup come to the United States again. We are both extremely pro-American and thought that it was ridiculous that a small oil-rich nation could host such a magnanimous sporting event. I knew nothing about Qatar originally except of its oil wealth, and upon starting research for this paper I was planning on writing why it was an awful idea for Qatar to host a World Cup. But upon researching, watching the Qatari bid, and the American bid, I realized that Qatar 2022 will be something very special. I am still disappointed that the United States lost, but I will look forward with wide eyes to see what Qatar does to make their World Cup as amazing as they say it will be

E-government adoption in Qatar: An investigation of the citizens' perspective

Electronic government (e-government) initiatives are in their early stages in many developing countries and faced with various issues pertaining to their implementation, adoption and diffusion. Like many other developing countries, the e-government initiative in the state of Qatar has faced a number of challenges since its inception in 2000. Using a survey based study this paper describes citizens‟ behavioural intention and adoption in terms of applying and utilising the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of technology (UTAUT) model to explore the adoption and diffusion of e-government services in the state of Qatar. A regression analysis was conducted to examine the influence of e-government adoption factors and the empirical data revealed that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and social influences determine citizens‟ behavioural intention towards e-government. Moreover, facilitating conditions and behavioural intention were found to determine citizens‟ use of e-government services in the state of Qatar. Implications for practice and research are discussed

Desert PV Module Workshop

QNRF, QEERI, TAMU