Characteristics Boards of Directors and Cash Dividend Policy

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to Explanation the relationship between the characteristics boards of directors (Board size, Board women's representation, Board independency, and Board diversity) and cash Dividend Policy.   Design/Methodology/Approach: The study uses a firm level panel data set of sample included 13 banks and insurance companies publicly traded firms on the Palestine Stock Exchange between 2012 and 2021. Cash Dividend Policy have been measured by (dividends per share), and the data analyzed within the framework of OLS regression technique.    Findings: The results of this study reveal no significant effects of all characteristics boards of directors on cash Dividend Policy at banks and insurance companies publicly traded on the Palestine Stock Exchange. The study recommended the need to control the application of corporate governance for commercial banks and insurance companies in Palestine.   Research, Practical & Social implications: The results of this study differ somewhat from most previous studies. The study emphasizes the necessity of activating internal governance factors related to the characteristics of the board of directors to support the process of making a decision to cash dividend Policy because of their important reflection on the analyzes and expectations of investors in the Palestine Stock Exchange.   Originality/Value: This study provides valuable insights to shareholders and stakeholders about activating internal governance mechanisms in the Palestinian financial sector and highlights the role of the characteristics boards of directors in making financial decisions, including cash dividend Policy, while giving a clearer picture to investors and analysts for building investment strategies

Development of Graphical Analytical Models for Digital Signal Processing System Structures

This paper proposes an improved method for describing digital filter structures as part of digital signal processing (DSP) systems, characterized by the high information content of its models. The proposed approach is used to perform the synthesis of graphical analytical models of DSP systems as well as their analysis by means of multilevel decomposition. All the system elements are presented in the form of functional structures, and the input counts processing - by the discrete system - is considered as the process of converting arguments by these functional structures. Moreover, graphical analytical models of basic structures of the finite impulse response (FIR) and infinite impulse response (IIR) filters are developed and integrated with an object-oriented programming language to be used in various projects in the form of snap-in modules. Additionally, the method, proposed in this paper is used for synthesising an optimized structure of a digital filter for calculating the mean and current values of the determined periodic signal at the optimal discrete system’s speed and invariance to discretization frequency. The obtained practical results show that the proposed method can be used with great confidence in synthesizing optimized structures of digital filters as well as in the optimization of DSP systems’ structures with the purpose of identifying the mean and RMS voltage values. The latter is an indicator that the proposed method can be applied to various electronic systems

Digital image scrambling using 2D cellular automata

Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works. A. L. A. Dalhoum et al., "Digital Image Scrambling Using 2D Cellular Automata", IEEE MultiMedia, vol. 19, no. 4 pp. 28 – 36, oct-dec. 2012A digital image scrambling method based on a 2D cellular automaton, specifically the well-known Game of Life, produces an effective image encryption technique.This work has been partially sponsored by the Spanish MICINN project TIN2011-28260-C03-0

أزمة سد النهضة الأثيوبي وانعكاساتها السياسية والاقتصادية على الأمن القومي المصري خلال الفترة 2011-2021

هدف المقال تقديم لمحة عن سد النهضة الأثيوبي، وتحليل لتداعيات أزمة سد النهضة في البعد السياسي والاقتصادي عن الأمن القومي المصري، وتعالج الدراسة الفرضية التالية: يوجد علاقة ارتباطية بين بناء سد النهضة وتعبئته وبين الأمن المائي المصري وانعكاسات ذلك على الأمن القومي المصري ، واعتمدت الدراسة على المنهج الوصفي التحليلي للإجابة عن تساؤلاتها والتحقق من صحة فرضيتها، وخلصت الدراسة الى أن الموقع الذي تم اختياره لإنشاء السد كان لاعتبارات سياسية، وذو أبعاد جيوسياسية كبيرة، إذ أن هذا المكان على النيل الأزرق هو الأكثر توافراً وتدفقاً للمياه، حيث يسهم بنحو (80%) من حجم المياه القادمة لمصر، وان تخزين إثيوبيا لكميات المياه سيجعلها صاحبة القرار الاستراتيجي لإملاء شروطها خاصة إذا واجهت ضغوطاً من دول كبرى أو معادية لمصر لفرض هذه الشروط مما يخل بالتوازن الأمني لمصر والإضرار بتأمين مستقبل مصر من المياه، وسيسهم في تقليل الحصة المائية المصرية سيؤدي إلى بوار مساحات كبيرة من الأراضي الزراعية، وتشريد ملايين الأسر. وفي ضوء نتائج الدراسة، فإنها توصي بقيام الدولة المصرية بحملة إعلامية واسعة داخل مصر وخارجها لبيان مخاطر بناء السد على الأمن القومي المصري وما يشكله ذلك من خطورة كبيرة على الدولة المصرية كونه يمثل خطر وجودي. The article aimed to provide an overview of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, and an analysis of the repercussions of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in the political and economic dimension of Egyptian national security. On Egyptian water security. The study relied on the analytical descriptive approach. The study concluded that the site chosen for the Dam\u27s construction was due to political considerations and great geopolitical dimensions, as this place on the Blue Nile is the most abundant and flowing water. It contributes about (80%) of the volume of water coming to Egypt. Ethiopia’s storage of water quantities will make it the strategic decision-maker to dictate its conditions, especially if it faces pressure from major or hostile countries on Egypt to impose these conditions, which disturbs the security balance of Egypt and damages securing Egypt’s future from water. It will contribute to reducing the Egyptian water share, which will lead to the collapse of large areas of agricultural land and the displacement of millions of families. The study results recommend that the Egyptian state carry out a wide media campaign inside and outside Egypt to show the dangers of building the dam on Egyptian national security and the great danger that this poses to the Egyptian state, as it represents an existential threat

Antioxidant lipoxygenase inhibitors from the leaf extracts of Simmondsia chinensis

AbstractObjectiveTo isolate and identify chemical constituents with antioxidant and lipoxygenase inhibitory effects of the ethanolic extract of Simmondsia chinensis (Jojoba) leaves.MethodsThe alcoholic extract was subjected to successive solvent fractionation. The antioxidant active fractions (chloroform, ethyl acetate and aqueous fractions) were subjected to a combination of different chromatographic techniques guided by the antioxidant assay with DPPH. The structures of the isolated compounds were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic evidences and correlated with known compounds. The antioxidant activity was assessed quantitively using DPPH and β-carotene methods. The inhibitory potential against enzyme lipoxygenase was assessed on soybean lipoxygenase enzyme.ResultsTen flavonoids and four lignans were isolated. Flavonoid aglycones showed stronger antioxidant and lipoxygenase inhibitory effects than their glycosides. Lignoid glycosides showed moderate to weak antioxidant and lipoxygenase inhibitory effects.ConclusionsA total of 14 compounds were isolated and identified from Simmondsia chinensis; 12 of them were isolated for the first time. This is the first report that highlights deeply on the phenolic content of jojoba and their potential biological activities and shows the importance of this plant as a good source of phenolics in particular the flavonoid content

Utilizing an enhanced cellular automata model for data mining

Data mining deals with clustering and classifying large amounts of data, in order to discover new knowledge from the existent data by identifying correlations and relationships between various data-sets. Cellular automata have been used before for classification purposes. This paper presents a cellular automata enhanced classification algorithm for data mining. Experimental results show that the proposed enhancement gives better performance in terms of accuracy and execution time than previous work using cellular automata

Dye Sensitized Solar Cells Based on Hydrazonoyl Synthetic Dyes

A group of chemical sensitizers of two hydrazonoyl based derivatives were synthesized. These derivatives contain a good π system for efficient light absorption and oxide sensitization. Precursor structure I was reacted with 2,6-diaminopyridine, 2-aminobenzoic acid, 4-aminobenzoic acid, 2-aminopyridine, 2,6-dinitrophenylhydrazine, and diphenylamine. The other precursor, structure (II), was reacted with 2-aminobenzoic acid, 2-amino-3-methyl, and 2-amino-4-methylpyridine. A total of 9 dyes were prepared and evaluated as sensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Full computational calculations using DFT B3LYP 6-31+G were carried out for evaluation of band edge and band gap energies of all compounds. The absorption spectra of these dyes as well as cyclic voltammetry were used for the measurement of the HOMO, LUMO, and energy band gaps. The photovoltaic performance of the fabricated DSSCs was measured in different solutions comprising water, alcohol, phenylhydrazine, and dinitrophenylhydazine

The Use of Artificial Intelligence Techniques and Their Impact on Improving the Higher Education Outcomes of Business Administrative Colleges in Palestinian Universities

The study aims to identify the impact of the use of artificial intelligence techniques in improving the outputs of higher education in Business Administrative Colleges in the universities under study that formed the research community. As for the sample, it consisted of (130) academic respondents in these universities under study. The research concluded that there is a statistically significant effect of using artificial intelligence techniques (expert systems, neural networks) in improving the outputs of higher education in Business Administrative Colleges under study. It was found that artificial intelligence technologies contribute to finding graduates who are able to carry out the process of modernization and professional development in various fields of work. These technologies also contribute to improving and developing the skills of graduates in the labor market and providing them with new skills and characteristics to perform their duties. The research recommended increasing interest in the expert systems technology by the universities under study because of its scientific importance in improving the outputs of higher education by reformulating them in the form of programs embraced by computers

Optical amplification and stability of spiroquaterphenyl compounds and blends

In this contribution, we present a systematic investigation on a series of spiroquaterphenyl compounds optimised for solid state lasing in the near ultraviolet (UV). Amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) thresholds in the order of 1 μJ/cm^2 are obtained in neat (undiluted) films and blends, with emission peaks at 390±1 nm for unsubstituted and meta-substituted quaterphenyls and 400±4 nm for para-ether substituted quaterphenyls. Mixing with a transparent matrix retains a low threshold, shifts the emission to lower wavelengths and allows a better access to modes having their intensity maximum deeper in the film. Chemical design and blending allow an independent tuning of optical and processing properties such as the glass transition

Laparoscopy in management of appendicitis in high-, middle-, and low-income countries: a multicenter, prospective, cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Appendicitis is the most common abdominal surgical emergency worldwide. Differences between high- and low-income settings in the availability of laparoscopic appendectomy, alternative management choices, and outcomes are poorly described. The aim was to identify variation in surgical management and outcomes of appendicitis within low-, middle-, and high-Human Development Index (HDI) countries worldwide. METHODS: This is a multicenter, international prospective cohort study. Consecutive sampling of patients undergoing emergency appendectomy over 6 months was conducted. Follow-up lasted 30 days. RESULTS: 4546 patients from 52 countries underwent appendectomy (2499 high-, 1540 middle-, and 507 low-HDI groups). Surgical site infection (SSI) rates were higher in low-HDI (OR 2.57, 95% CI 1.33-4.99, p = 0.005) but not middle-HDI countries (OR 1.38, 95% CI 0.76-2.52, p = 0.291), compared with high-HDI countries after adjustment. A laparoscopic approach was common in high-HDI countries (1693/2499, 67.7%), but infrequent in low-HDI (41/507, 8.1%) and middle-HDI (132/1540, 8.6%) groups. After accounting for case-mix, laparoscopy was still associated with fewer overall complications (OR 0.55, 95% CI 0.42-0.71, p < 0.001) and SSIs (OR 0.22, 95% CI 0.14-0.33, p < 0.001). In propensity-score matched groups within low-/middle-HDI countries, laparoscopy was still associated with fewer overall complications (OR 0.23 95% CI 0.11-0.44) and SSI (OR 0.21 95% CI 0.09-0.45). CONCLUSION: A laparoscopic approach is associated with better outcomes and availability appears to differ by country HDI. Despite the profound clinical, operational, and financial barriers to its widespread introduction, laparoscopy could significantly improve outcomes for patients in low-resource environments. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT02179112