The Word gid in Najdi Arabic: An Evidentiality Head

This research paper investigates the word gid which is used in Najdi Arabic, a dialect spoken in Najd region in Arabic peninsula. This particle is analyzed syntactically using the recent assumptions of the minimalist program (Chomsky 1993, 1995, and subsequent work). As for the findings, it turns out that gid functions as a head that instantiates its maximal projection above TP and under CP. So, this word is not a property of TP domain nor a CP domain. Due to the fact that this word is only used when a speaker is certain of the propositional content of his/her utterance, we argue that gid is an evidential head that scopes over the tense layer. Furthermore, we argue that gid has an EPP feature, hence the specifier position of the functional phases headed by it must be filled by some element which is the subject. This accounts for the fact that subject must precede gid in declarative sentences. Additionally, gid has [PAST] feature which is uninterpretable and hence must be deleted before the derivation is handed over to the LF following the general lines of feature deletion of Chomsky (1995 and 2005). We argue that the deletion of [PAST] feature is conducted through an Agree operation that is established between gid and the verb. This is why gid comes exclusively with past tense. Otherwise [PAST] feature on gid remains active, leading to the ungrammaticality of the given sentenc

Distribution System with Renewable Energy Sources

Bakalářská práce je zaměřena na oblasti 1) Větrná energie 2) Vodní energie 3) Geotermální energie 4) Fotovoltaika 5) Solární termální konferze 6) Energie biomasy 7) Studie připojení fotovoltaické elektrárny k distribuční sítiThis bachelor thesis focuses on this bachelor thesis focuses on 1) Wind energy 2) Hydro 3) Geothermal 4) Photovoltaic 5) Solar thermal electric conversion 6) Biomass energy 7) Case study of the distribution network with PVP

Corporate Governance and Earnings Management in Saudi Listed Firms

The system of corporate governance is designed for the effective and efficient operation of corporations on behalf of stakeholders as a mean of enabling various stakeholders to monitor managers effectively against opportunistic behavior. The corporate governance mechanisms have shown in other context of different organizations to affect firms' behavior particularly the earnings management practices. The issue has been tested worldwide and it was shown that earnings management could be affected by the structure of corporate governance of the firms. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the impact of corporate governance mechanisms (i.e. independent director, Board size, board meetings and audit committee characteristics) on earnings management activities in Saudi listed firms for the year 2008. The study is significant due to the lack of empirical studies in the field of corporate governance and earnings management since the Saudi code of corporate governance has been enacted in the late 2006. More interesting this study will be of significant since it tests the period following the financial crisis in order to show whether the earnings management activities have experienced a change during this period compares to the past period as well as whether the corporate governance enhance the earnings quality and help in curbing earnings management in such critical period. The results of the study show that earnings management activities do not experienced any change post enactment of corporate governance code for Saudi listed firms. Furthermore, the corporate governance mechanisms have shown to have no impact on earnings management except for the board meetings which show negative relationship with earnings management. The impactions of the study for regulations are to help them in assessing whether the corporate governance achieved its objectives in order for them to take the corrective actions wherever necessary

Supported Gold Nanoparticles as Promising Catalysts

In recent times, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) either in the form of colloids or as supported nanoparticles are being extensively used as efficient redox catalyst materials. Catalysis particularly using supported gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) has attracted immense research interest due to their unique properties and greater potentiality that is directly related to their particle size. The primary objective of this chapter is to provide comprehensive overview about gold metal nanoparticles (AuNPs) and their application as promising catalysts. This chapter contains six sections in total. Section 1 starts with a general introduction, recent progress, and brief summary of the application of supported AuNPs as promising catalysts for different applications. Section 2 briefs the properties and stability of gold nanoparticles. Section 3 reviews the preparation methods of supported AuNPs for a wide range of catalytic applications. Section 4 describes briefly some of the most commonly reported supported AuNPs for different applications. Section 5 concentrates on our own results related to the application of supported AuNPs in heterogeneous catalysis. In this section, the oxidation of cyclohexane (CH) and benzyl alcohol (BA) to adipic acid (AA), benzaldehyde (BAl), and ammoxidation of 2-methylpyrazine to 2-cyanopyrazine are discussed. Finally, Section 6 describes, main points and outlook are summarized

Gold Nanoparticles Based Novel Solid Catalysts: Synthesis, Characterization and Application

Catalysis using gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) is a topic of great interest due to their various beneficial properties towards different catalytic reactions of both academic and industrial importance. In this thesis, the preparation, characterization and application of a variety of AuNPs were studied. Our samples were investigated by different characterization methods such as UV-Vis, DLS, ICP-OES, XRF, TGA, BET, XRD, XPS, solid-state NMR, SEM, TEM etc. The catalytic properties of the samples were examined for three different reactions in both liquid and gas phase conditions

Metal Nanoparticles as Emerging Green Catalysts

Green nanotechnology is defined as the technology applied for building clean technology by which one can reduce the potential risks of environment and also improve human health conditions. It is linked with the implementation of products of nanotechnology and its process of manufacturing. Green nanotechnology synthesizes new nanoproducts with improved properties in such a way that they can substitute some of the existing low‐quality products. The main motive of developing new nanoproducts is to enhance sustainability and also to make them more environment friendly. In particular, nanoscale materials (e.g., nanoparticles) can be defined as those having characteristic length scale lying within the nanometric range, that is, in the range between one and several hundreds of nanometers. Within this length scale, the properties of matter are sufficiently different from individual atoms/molecules or from bulk materials. The primary objective of this chapter is to provide comprehensive overview about metal nanoparticles (MNPs) and its application as emerging green catalysts. This chapter contains six sections in total. Section 1 starts with a general introduction, recent progress, and brief summary of the application of MNPs as green catalyst. Section 2 reviews the preparation and characterization of supported metal nanoparticles for a wide range of catalytic applications. Section 3 presents the catalytic properties of supported metal nanoparticles. Section 4 describes briefly some of the most commonly reported supported MNPs in different green catalytic applications. Section 5 concentrates on our own results that related to the application of supported MNPs in catalysis. In this section, the oxidation of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde, the production of adipic acid from cyclohexane, the photodegradation of dyes using green route will be discussed. Finally, Section 6 describes the summary of main points and also presents an outlook of the application of MNPs in green chemistry

Metal Organic Frameworks as Emerging Photocatalysts

Increasing number of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have recently been recognised as a new generation of emerging porous photocatalysts in photocatalysis and photoelectrocatalysis, since their intrinsic coordination structure between the metal cluster and organic ligands offers MOFs great flexibility to tune their semiconducting property for enhanced light harvesting. In order to improve their performance substantially and achieve widespread application of MOF photocatalysts, it is necessary to develop effective synthesis strategies and understand their semiconducting crystal structure, photocatalytic mechanism in depth. This chapter firstly provides a brief introduction of the MOF materials; this chapter addresses the crystallinity, porosity and electronic semiconducting structures that are essential in solar energy conversion. Established and innovative syntheses strategies of MOFs are then categorised and illustrated, followed by various characterisations techniques applied to investigate their structural and semiconducting properties (band structure and charge transfer), including X-ray Diffraction XRD, small angle X-ray Diffraction SAXRD, adsorption/desorption, UV-Vis, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), extended fine Auger structures (EXFAS), inelastic neutron scattering (INS) spectroscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR)TEM and electrochemical measurements. The photocatalytic and photoelectrocatalytic application of MOFs are introduced addressing their unique photocatalytic mechanism. The perspectives of MOF photocatalysts are finally presented to encourage the future development. The content of this chapter suits the users including beginners, postgraduates and professionals

A Socio-Cultural Investigation of Science Curriculum Reform and Implementation in Kuwait: Perspectives of Teachers, Students and Curriculum Reformers

In 2008 the Ministry of Education in Kuwait began to reform the science curriculum in schools at all academic stages: primary (grades 1-5), intermediate (6-9) and secondary (10-12). The new science curriculum was adapted from an original curriculum which had been designed and published by the Amercan company Pearson-Scott Foreman. This study explores the perspectives of science teachers and students concerning the new science curriculum for the sixth and seventh grades (students aged 11 to 15) in the State of Kuwait. The study also investigated the process of the reform and the roles that science teachers and students performed in this reform process. The study used Sociocultural Theory as a framework to examine the science curriculum reform process and to discuss findings. A multi-method design was used with both quantitative and qualitative methods to collect the data: science teachers’ and students’ questionnaires; interviews with science teachers, students and science curriculum reformers; and classroom observations. The study sample was selected randomly. The questionnaire was conducted with 310 science teachers and 647 students. 11 science teachers, nine reformers and 30 students (five in each of six focus groups) were chosen to conduct in-depth interviews. Ten classroom observations were conducted with four science teachers. The study indicated that the science curriculum reform process was controlled centrally by the Ministry of Education and teachers and students did not participate in any stage of the reform process. The findings also found that many of the science teachers and students held negative views about the new science curriculum. They felt that the content of the new curriculum does not relate very well to Kuwaiti culture, to the Islamic religion and that the curriculum objectives needed to be more clear and achievable. The findings showed that many of the students indicated that they have difficulty understanding much of the content and did not enjoy studying science. Most of the teachers indicated that they faced challenges in teaching the new science curriculum. These included a lack of instructional tools, lack of teacher autonomy, the amount of material that needed covering and large class sizes. This study recommends reviewing the new science curriculum (now currently in use) taking into account the perspectives of teachers and students. It recommends that in carrying out curriculum reform the Ministry of Education be encouraged to provide guidance in the form of instructional tools and professional development programmes for teachers. These should be designed to help teachers develop the pedagogic skills needed to address the complex relationships between science and culture and between science and religion

Room-temperature synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles in different media and their application in cyanide photodegradation

Cyanide is an extreme hazard and extensively found in the wastes of refinery, coke plant, and metal plating industries. A simple, fast, cost-effective, room-temperature wet chemical route, based on cyclohexylamine, for synthesizing zinc oxide nanoparticles in aqueous and enthanolic media was established and tested for the photodegradation of cyanide ions. Particles of polyhedra morphology were obtained for zinc oxide, prepared in ethanol (ZnO(E)), while spherical and some chunky particles were observed for zinc oxide, prepared in water (ZnO(W)). The morphology was crucial in enhancing the cyanide ion photocatalytic degradation efficiency of ZnO(E) by a factor of 1.5 in comparison to the efficiency of ZnO(W) at an equivalent concentration of 0.02 wt.% ZnO. Increasing the concentration wt.% of ZnO(E) from 0.01 to 0.09 led to an increase in the photocatalytic degradation efficiency from 85% to almost 100% after 180 min and a doubling of the first-order rate constant (k)