Formation and anisotropic magnetoresistance of Co/Pt nano-contacts through aluminum oxide barrier

We report on the observation of anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR) in vertical asymmetric nano-contacts (NCs) made through AlO$_x$ nano-oxide layer (NOL) formed by ion-assisted oxidation method in the film stack of Co/AlO$_x$-NOL/Pt. Analysis of NC formation was based on \emph{in situ} conductive atomic force microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Depending on the purity of NCs from Al contamination, we observed up to 29% AMR ratio at room temperature

Eadah: Tools for Celebrating Qatari Wellness Rituals

Friday prayer is an essential congregational practice in Muslim communities. To prepare for Friday prayer, worshippers groom and cleanse themselves ahead of time, according to Islamic ablution rituals, and dress in their best attire. Eadah is a collection of contemporary tools designed to facilitate the pre-prayer cleansing ritual, inspired by traditional Qatari remedies and wellness practices. The tools reflect three balanced considerations: touch, meditative making, and cultural preservation. They are used to prepare natural ingredients through mindful making that produce remedies with stimulating scents and sensations through touch. An emphasis on cultural preservation differentiates Eadah from other tools offered by the cosmetics industry. Eadah benefits from an infusion of Qatari wisdom and multi-generational knowledge, combining local wellness practices with novel tools

The Challenges of Qatari Women in the Workforce

The purpose of this research is to examine the changes that have taken place regarding work opportunities for women over the years in Qatar, and to explore the efforts made by these women to change the traditional way of society’s thinking to achieve these positions. The study is important to highlight how the society entertained those developments and changes. The study may add to the existing theoretical knowledge by providing empirical data from different setting. It also may be helpful to enlighten the policy and decision makers to advance and guide these developments

Impact of The Legal Context on Protecting and Guaranteeing Women’s Rights at Work in the MENA region

This research explored whether the MENA region countries have adopted sufficient legal provisions that encouraged females to access the labor market. A documental collection, revision, and analysis were performed to enhance our understanding of statutory provisions that were adopted by 13 countries through the MENA region to encourage and facilitate access of women to the labor market. Findings showed that the governments of the different studied countries made considerable efforts to comply with the international legal norms and protect the female workers. Among other things, the findings suggest that the MENA countries need to offer more legal protections to guarantee equity between workers, maintain the principle to be treated equally without discrimination and facilitate access of women to the labor market. Additionally, legal frameworks, work-family policies as working from home and flexible working hours, need to become more coherent, and more effort needs to be directed towards proper implementation and practice primarily in the private sector. These findings also suggest a unified treatment between male and female workers, whether they work in the public or the private sector

Web Accessibility as a Barrier to Successful Digital Governance: A Case Study of the Arabian Gulf Region

Conformance to web accessibility standards is crucial to successful digital governance. Examining the state of Web accessibility compliance in the state of Qatar, a fast growing digital economy with the world\u27s highest per capita GDP has many lessons for emerging economies. Our audit of a selected sample of websites across government and other sectors suggests the need to raise awareness among executives and other key stakeholders regarding Web accessibility and to develop best practices and an improved policy framework. To better understand the barriers to adoption of Web accessibility standards in the country, we interviewed 30 CIOs and senior information technology managers. The results suggest a need for stronger regulations, since organizations will not otherwise comply due to concerns that enforcement of accessibility standards results in increased website development time and costs and undermines usable website design and management, particularly with multilingual websites

Female labor force participation in the Middle East and North African Countries: constraints and levers

Despite the importance of the subject, few researches have attempted to explain the female labor force participation (FLFP) in MENA region. This research tries to exploring the geopolitical, social, ethnic and economic levers or constraints that facilitate or bloc women’s access to the labor market. A quantitative approach based on data analysis was performed through the review of the World Bank statistics related to women participation in the labor market in MENA region. Data analysis revealed that the studied labor market was marked by an overall positive progress of the presence of female workers. However, this evolution is still considered very low and slow in comparison with world standards. The research also revealed huge disparities in the level of progress of the FLFP among the studied countries. The disparities observed were interpreted in correlation with the religious, economic, political, social and cultural aspects.Apesar da importância do tema, poucas pesquisas têm tentado explicar a participação feminina na força de trabalho (FLFP) na região do MENA. Esta pesquisa tenta explorar as potencialidades ou restrições geopolíticas, sociais, étnicas e econômicas que facilitam ou bloqueiam o acesso das mulheres ao mercado de trabalho. Uma abordagem quantitativa baseada na análise de dados foi realizada através da revisão das estatísticas do Banco Mundial relacionadas à participação das mulheres no mercado de trabalho na região do MENA. A análise dos dados revelou que o mercado de trabalho estudado foi marcado por um progresso geral positivo da presença de mulheres trabalhadoras. Contudo, esta evolução ainda é considerada muito baixa e lenta em comparação com os padrões mundiais. A pesquisa também revelou enormes disparidades no nível de progresso da FLFP entre os países estudados. As disparidades observadas foram interpretadas em correlação com os aspectos religiosos, econômicos, políticos, sociais e culturais

Monitoring and Improving the Effectiveness of Quality Control and Quality Assurance in Road Construction at Al-Ain Municipality

A good roads network has an important bearing on the economic growth of the country. Construction of quality roads, which is considered a primary objective of any highway agencies and contractors, requires concerted efforts on many fronts. Over the past several years, agencies have been working with the construction industry to implement Quality Assurance/Quality Control activities (QA/QC) in an effort to improve the quality of highway construction. They are used as a mean to describe the materials, workmanship, and other general requirements for the project that the highway agencies expect from the contractors. Good specifications should be easy to understand by involved parties. Ambiguous specifications can mislead the contractor and result in increased cost to either or both client and contractor because of claims that may occur. Since the primary function of a QA/QC system is to describe the quality level of the product desired, it follows that an effective specification is one where the contractors correctly interpret the desired quality level and consistently provide that level. Therefore, once QA/QC system is developed and used in the field, they should be monitored to verify their effectiveness and to determine when improvement is necessary, thereby making continuous quality improvement possible. Very few highway agencies currently monitor how well their specifications work. In this research, QA/QC system of Internal Roads and Infrastructure Division at the Al Ain Municipality (AAM) was selected as a case study for monitoring and improving the effectiveness of QA/QC system of road construction projects. To achieve these objectives, a good understanding of current QA/QC system being practiced by the AAM was felt necessary for which relevant evidence, information and sufficient data were collected. It was also considered that it would be foreseeing to know, analyze and compare the QA/QC system being followed by other authorities such as Road Department of Abu Dhabi Municipality (ADM), Roads and Transport Authority (RTA- previously known as Department of Roads, Dubai Municipality), and Dubai Central Laboratory (DCL), which is considered as an integral part of the RTA. Scheduled interviews were made with responsible persons of respective departments of the various organizations. References and data were obtained. Comparison and analysis were performed followed by recommendation for improvement of QA/QC system by developing short and long term measures

Organic Contaminants in Refinery Wastewater: Characterization and Novel Approaches for Biotreatment

Addressing major environmental issues, such as water pollution, is essential nowadays in realizing sustainable development. The ever-increasing world population and industrial development have led to the introduction of different types of chemicals to the environment, leading to considerable deterioration in environmental quality. A major class of these chemicals is phenolic compounds, which are hazardous pollutants and highly toxic even at low concentrations. In recent years, researchers have realized the importance of extracting new bacterial strains that are effective in treating different types of highly contaminated wastewaters at different severe conditions. They also focused considerable amount of research on developing new types of reactors that would provide efficient mixing and reduce mass transfer limitations. The aim is to develop and evaluate effective reactor systems and biocatalysts for the biodegradation of major contaminants in petroleum refinery wastewater. This chapter examines the different available options for the treatment of refinery wastewater with more focus on novel biotreatment options