Competitiveness of Arabian gulf ports from shipping lines’ perspectives: Case of Sohar port in Oman

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to investigate the factors that encourage shipping lines to use port of Sohar, in Oman. Some selected factors were used to assess to what extent it affects the port choice from shipping lines companies’ perspective. These factors include infrastructure, hinterland, connectivity and port’s dues. Design/methodology/approach: for this study both quantitative and qualitative methodologies were used. Self-administered questionnaire used for collecting quantitative data while interviews were used to collect qualitative data. Secondary data was collected by reviewing academic literature and recent relevant articles and reports. Findings: Port of Sohar has a better opportunity to be the gateway of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) States and all Cargo could have dropped in the port and transferred to other GCC States by road, rail and other transportation modes. This opportunity is gained by the strategic location of Sohar Port outside of the Strait of Hormuz. It can be concluded that port competitiveness can be improved through strategic location, improved hinterland conditions, port facilities, services cost, volume of cargo, connectivity to other ports and dwell time factor. Research limitations: The research was limited mainly by conducting it only at the port of Sohar because surrounding ports are too far away and it should involve more ports to gain comparative results. Limited number of stakeholders as Port Authority, Oman International Container Terminal (OICT) and shipping lines companies and agents is another limitation. Practical implications: The port can improve its competitive advantages and focus on the investigated factors. The government can also continue in working in the three big infrastructural projects; the new express roads, Sohar Airport and rail network connections with other GCC networks. Originality/value: the study used specific factors that expected to contribute to the shipping lines companies’ selection of ports in the gulf region. This could help the port to identify their competitive advantage and how they can use these competencies to improve their competitiveness in relation to other ports in the region.Peer Reviewe

Entrepreneurial financing under uncertainty : Performance comparison between ROMCA and conventional microloans using agent based simulation

In this research we create a complex simulation environment where we compare the performance of two micro-financing modes in a group lending context under uncertain market and price conditions : A classical conventional mode and a proposed Profit and loss sharing model called ROMCA (Rotating Musharakah). Both models are based on group lending of entrepreneurs over a specified period. We identify four cases of market and price conditions and use Netlogo as a simulation tool to assess the performance of the two modes in terms of employment , enterprises , investment , tax proceeds and wealth creation. We found a simulation evidence that ROMCA performs better than conventional lending in terms of creating wealth, new enterprise (and therefore new employment opportunities) and better consumption level even under adverse market conditions. On the other hand, Conventional lending is found to dominate ROMCA in terms of employment under favorable market conditio

Waldenstrom\u27s macroglobulinemia terminating in acute myeloid leukemia

Waldenstrom\u27s macroglobulinemia (WM) is a rare condition, accounting for approximately 2% of haematologic malignancies. The most common causes of death in these patients are progression of the malignant lymphoproliferative process, infection and cardiac failure. Acute leukemia is a rare event in the clinical course of WM. A number of case reports have documented the development of terminal acute leukemia in patients with WM following prolonged chemotherapy

Non-verbal Communication between Two Non-native English Speakers: Iraqi and Chinese

This study investigates non-verbal communications used by an Iraqi speaker to transfer meaning to a Chinese speaker and vice versa. Different situations, from Chinese environment, have been chosen and analyzed according to the body language movements. The study found out that although the two languages, Iraqi Arabic and Chinese, are differentiated in verbal languages; the two speakers can communicate and understand each other nonverbally. It is also evidence that non-verbal communication between the Iraqi and Chinese speakers is somewhat similar in spite of their two differentiated cultures, they could understand each other’s facial expression, gestures, proxemics, haptics, and Tactile

The n-exponential convexity for majorization inequality for functions of two variables and related results

We apply the refined method of producing n-exponential convex functions of J. Pečarić and J. Perić to extend some known results on majorization type and related inequalities

Frequency of hereditary thrombophilia: an AKUH experience.

Abstract Objective: To determine the frequency of various causes of hereditary thrombophilia at a referral laboratory and the age and gender distribution. Methods: This is a descriptive study incorporating a retrospective analysis of requests for thrombophilia screening sent to Clinical laboratory, Aga Khan University Hospital from November 1995 to May 2002.Patients were screened for hereditary causes of thrombophilia including Protein C, Protein S, antithrombin III, Factor V Leiden and homocysteine. Frequency of each disorder; and age and sex distribution was determined. Results: All the patients suspected clinically for thrombophilia were screened. Of the 2825 patients, 70 were diagnosed to have inheritance as a cause of thrombophilia with a frequency of 2.3% for protein C deficiency, 1.4% for protein S deficiency, 1.5% for antithrombin III deficiency, 14.2% for factor V leiden mutation and 2.0% for homocystenemia. Conclusion: All the causes of hereditary thrombophilia can be diagnosed by relatively simple laboratory methods, however because of the low frequency of these disorders the screening of general population is not indicated in the absence of clinical symptoms. More prospective studies are required to define the occurrence of these disorders and other causes of thrombosis (JPMA 54:427;2004)

Etiological Spectrum of Pregnancy-Related Acute Renal Failure among Females at a Tertiary Care Hospital

Background: Acute renal failure in pregnancy can be induced by any of the disorders leading to renal failure in the general population, such as acute tubular necrosis due to infection, glomerulonephritis related to lupus, or drug toxicity. There are, however, pregnancy complications characteristic of each trimester that can result in renal failure. The objective of this study was to determine the frequency of various causes of pregnancy-related acute renal failure among females presenting to a tertiary care hospital

Nexus between Economy, Agriculture, Population, Renewable Energy and CO2 Emissions: Evidence from Asia-Pacific Countries

This study uses panel co-integration methods and Granger causality examines to scrutinize the dynamic causal relationship between carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, gross domestic product (GDP), renewable energy (RE), agriculture value added (AVA) and population for the thirteen developed and developing Asia Pacific countries (APCs) covering the period 2005-2017. The results evaluate in two ways: in the short-run, Granger causality test (GCT) is operating from AVA to GDP and express bidirectional causation among GDP and agriculture. In the distant future, there is causality from RE and Population to CO2emissions. The short-run causality is important due to the agriculture sector which causes in boosting GDP while economic development, population and clean energy (including waste and combustible) raise CO2 emissions causes in the reduction of production and services. The research finds out that reduction in AVA, GDP increase, uncontrolled population and lack of attention on clean energy are interrelated in creating emissions. Policy recommendation insights that Asian Pacific establishments should control the population, less use of fossil fuel, encourage clean energy technologies such as solar and wind to fight with global warming

Dynamique Entrepreneuriale et Création des Entreprises : Effet des Externalités Economiques, Territoriales et Institutionnelles

L’article examine le dynamisme entrepreneuriale et report les résultats empiriques en analysant la dynamique de la création des entreprises pour les douze régions du Maroc à travers l’économétrie des données de Panel. L’objectif de cette étude est de contribuer à la compréhension de la dynamique entrepreneuriale à travers l’impact des externalités économiques, territoriales et institutionnelles sur la création des entreprises. Les principaux résultats de l’étude empirique ont montré premièrement l’existence d’un impact significatif et positif de la densité de la population (Urbanisation) et du PIB sur la création des entreprises. Et deuxièmement, un effet significativement négatif des dépenses d’investissement et de l’éducation sur la création des entreprises. Et finalement, que y’a pas de corrélation entre le taux de chômage et la création des entreprises. Par conséquence, les effets d’externalités jouent un rôle primordial dans la dynamique entrepreneuriale qu’il faut prendre en considération par le décideur politique.

Frequency and clinical spectrum of rare inherited coagulopathies--a tricenter study

OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency of rare inherited coagulopathies at three centers of haematology in Karachi and to study the clinical spectrum and laboratory data of these coagulopathies. METHODS: This was a descriptive study conducted from September 2003 to December 2004 on subjects from Aga Khan University Hospital, Husaini Blood Bank and Fatimid Blood Transfusion Centre. All the subjects with bleeding tendency without any acquired causes of bleeding were selected for further investigation, and were asked relevant questions as present in the questionnaire. Screening tests including platelet count, PT, APTT and bleeding time were performed on all patients and subsequently, specific tests including factor assay, clot solubility test, platelet aggregation and vWFAg were performed. RESULTS: In total, 1100 patients were evaluated for bleeding tendency at the three centers and 65 patients were diagnosed to have inherited coagulopathy other than haemophilia A and B. Out of these 65 patients, 33 (50.7%) were males and 32 (49.2%) were females. Rare inherited coagulopathies that were found in our population included deficiency of factor VII {n = 21 (32.3%)}, factor X {n = 17 (26.1%)}, factor XIII {n =14 (21.5%)}, factor V {n = 9 (13.8%)}, fibrinogen {n = 2 (3%)}, prothrombin {n = 1 (1.5%)} and factor XII {n = 1 (1.5%)}. CONCLUSION: Inherited coagulopathies other than haemophilia A and B were noted in the study population