Radicalization of Zaydi Reform Attempts

This thesis is studying the development of the Zaydi doctrine in order to understand the reasons of emerging the Zaydi radical group, the Houthis. The studies about Zaydism are few, since it is a doctrine that only exists in Yemen, so it is considered a doctrine of a minor group. The studies about the contemporary Zaydism are much fewer, which leads to misunderstand the Houthi phenomenon. Zaydism has a long history in Yemen and the Zaydi Imamate controlled Yemen or the northern parts of Yemen for hundreds years. Therefore, the overthrow of the Imamate in 1962 and the establishment of t republican system were the biggest challenges that Zaydism has ever faced, since the Zaydi Imamate political theory is the main theme of the Zaydi doctrine. This thesis will demonstrate the main features of Zaydism; its main theological aspects and Social dimensions to study the contemporary Zaydism since the nineteenth century, when it shifted from a revolutionary doctrine of rebelled tribes to a state’s doctrine. Then, it will deal with the last period of the Imamate during the twentieth century and its collapse in 1962. The establishment of the republican system resulted profound outcomes on the Zaydi doctrine. After almost three decades of the republican revolution, the Zaydi revival groups emerged and established the Zaydi political parties and the Zaydi clubs to teach the Zaydi youth the Zaydi doctrine; all of these changes will be examinedin the thesis. These different phases that Zaydism passed through led to emerge the Houthi group. The reasons of emerging the Houthis group and the shift from a Zaydi revivalist movement to a radical one will be also discussed in this thesis

Role of Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis (MAP) and TNFSF15 SNPs on TL1A in CD

Tumor Necrosis Factor-Like Ligand 1a (TL1A) is a cytokine encoded by Tumor Necrosis Factor Super Family 15 gene (TNFSF15) gene mostly in endothelial cells which binds to T-cells and foments the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines including TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1b, IFN- γ and IL-13. TL1A level is elevated in inflammatory diseases including Crohn\u27s Disease (CD). Although Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) in TNFSF15 have been reported in CD, no studies have investigated the effect of these SNPs on TL1A, inflammation, and susceptibility to Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) infection. MAP is a strong candidate in CD pathogenesis. This study is designed to elucidate the combined effect of MAP and SNPs in TNFSF15 (rs4263839, rs7848647, rs6478108, or rs6478109) on TL1A secretion and downstream effect on pro-inflammatory cytokines. Peripheral blood from CD and healthy subjects was analyzed for MAP DNA, TNFSF15 genotyping, circulating TL1A level, and IFN- γ and TNF-α gene expression. Our data is first to report that rs4263839, rs7848647, rs6478108, and rs6478109 in TNFSF15 resulted in increase in circulating TL1A level in healthy and CD samples. Specifically, in CD samples with rs7848647, the average TL1A level was 146.9 pg/mL ± 124.5 compared 62.4 pg/mL ± 82.8 in normal samples. Similarly, TL1A level in CD samples with rs6478109 was 141.9 pg/mL ± 127.7 compared to 71.5 pg/mL ± 88.4 in normal samples (p \u3c 0.05). All 4 SNPs resulted in significant elevation in TL1A level in healthy samples (p \u3c 0.05). Moreover, IFN-γ expression was significantly higher, by approximately 1.6-fold in CD patients with SNPs relative to CD patients with no SNPs (p \u3c 0.05). Interestingly, SNPs in TNFS15 had no significant effect on TNF-α expression. MAP was detected in the blood of 63% of CD compared to 6% healthy subjects (p \u3c .001). The data did not support a correlation between MAP presence and circulating TL1A levels, and no correlation between SNPs in TNSF15 and MAP susceptibility. This study strongly suggests, that SNPs in TNFSF15 increase TL1A levels and may be a contributory factor to the inflammation experienced by CD patients. Over all, the study emphasizes the need for a pharmacogenomic approach in treatment delivery for patients with CD by using TNFSF15 SNPs to identify patients that would benefit from biologics targeting TL1A rather than TNF-α for more efficacious treatment regiments for CD patients

Development Of A Robust Blind Digital Video Watermarking Algorithm Using Discrete Wavelet Transform

Video watermarking technology enables us to hide an imperceptible, robust, and secure data in digital or analog video. This data can be used for tracking, fingerprinting, copyright infringement detection or any other application that requires some hidden data. Video watermarking can be achieved by either applying still image technologies to each frame of the movie or by using dedicated methods which exploit inherent features of the video sequence. There is a complex trade-off between three requirements in digital watermarking: robustness against noise and attacks, imperceptibility or invisibility, and capacity, which represent the amount of data, i.e., the number of bits encoded by the watermark. However, these three requirements conflict with each other. Increasing the watermark strength makes the system more robust but unfortunately decreases the perceptual quality. Whereas, increasing the capacity of the watermark decreases the robustness.In the production chain, video compression is usually applied before broadcasting or before transferring the video to other devices. In order to be robust against format conversions, the watermark has to be inserted before compression. Therefore, uncompressed video format has been used in the research undertaken. On the other hand, a random key is used to choose the frames to be watermarked to increase the security level of the algorithm and discourage piracy. The aim of this research is to develop a video watermarking algorithm to embed a binary image inside the uncoded video stream that acts as a logo. A mid-band discrete wavelet transform coefficients of the selected frames are chosen to be the hosted region in the frequency domain. An inverse transformation should be taken in order to get the desired watermarked video shot. In extraction process the watermark is extracted from the marked video directly without access to the original video. The experiment results showed that the proposed scheme provides better quality watermarked videos in term of watermark invisibility to human eyes. Results also indicated that obtaining average peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR) equals 41.59dB as compared with 38.48dB in the case of direct embedding. In addition, the scheme is robust against video processing operations, such as MPEG compression which could be successfully recovered. In conclusion, modifying the wavelet coefficients depending only on the logo object's pixels highly improve the invisibility and at the same time providing a good robustness level

The relationship between corporate governance mechanisms and company attributes and accounting conservatism of Jordanian listed companies

This study examines the relationship between the corporate governance mechanisms related to the ownership structure, board of directors, audit committee and auditor quality along with company attributes and the accounting conservatism of Jordanian listed companies. The theoretical foundation of such a relationship was provided by five comprehensive theories which are the agency theory, the positive accounting theory, the resource dependence theory, stewardship and the signaling theory. The data were obtained from the annual reports of 348 Jordanian companies from 2009 to 2011. Upon using the multiple regression analysis, the results show that the relationship between the corporate governance mechanisms and accounting conservatism was somewhat varied. Fifteen hypotheses were developed in this study. Seven of them were significant while eight were not. For ownership structure, institutional and foreign ownership were significant while family and managerial ownership were not statistically significant. Board independence, financial expertise and board tenure were significant, while board size, CEO and multiple directorships were not significant due to the higher level of P-value compared to 0.05. On the other hand, audit committee and auditor independence were statistically significant to conservatism, while auditor brand name, company size and debt contract were reported to be negatively and not significantly related to conservatism. These results indicate that corporate governance plays a vital role in enhancing the level of conservatism and reducing agency conflict. Further, regulator bodies in Jordan should increase the effectiveness of corporate governance in Jordanian companies in order to enhance the quality of financial reports. In addition, this study opens up avenues for more studies on accounting conservatism not only in Jordan, but also in other countries where this area of study is lacking. Furthermore, it opens up opportunities and provides avenues for more in-depth research related to the quality of financial reports

Enhancement Of Photocatalytic Process In The Petroleum Wastewater Treatment At Sohar Oil Refinery, Oman

A large amount of water is used in the petroleum refinery activity. Consequently, significant volume of wastewater is generated. Recently, a wide range of pollutant compounds is detected in petroleum wastewater in Sohar Oil Refinery (SOR). Thus, the elimination of these chemicals from petroleum wastewater is presently one of the most important aspects of pollution control in Oman. The concentrations range for chemical oxygen demand (COD) in petroleum wastewater from SOR is between 550-1600 ppm and the concentrations range for total organic compounds (TOC) is between 220-265 ppm. The standard discharge limits for COD and TOC, which are < 200 ppm and < 75 ppm, respectively. In order to meet the standards, new treatment alternatives should be established. Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) have the capability of rapid degradation of recalcitrant pollutants in the aquatic environment. In this process, remediation of hazardous substances is attributed to hydroxyl radical, which exhibit reactivity toward organic. In this study, two novel techniques were investigated to enhance the treatment efficiency utilizing solar photocatalyst TiO2/ZnO/Fenton process and solar photocatalyst TiO2/ZnO/Air process to remove COD and TOC from the petroleum wastewater in SOR. In addition, a novel route to treat the petroleum wastewater was investigated by using solar energy with the photocatalyst of TiO2/Fenton process. Several set of experiments were carried out to investigate the influence of important operating parameters, including catalysts dosage, Fenton ratio, Fenton reagents dosages, pH and reaction time on the removal efficiencies of TOC and COD. Several set of experiments were carried out according to Central composite design (CCD) with Responses surface methodology (RSM) to determine the COD and TOC removal efficiency and residual iron under the optimum operational conditions. By using the solar photocatalyst TiO2/ZnO/Fenton process, the treatment efficiency improved from 18% to 88% for TOC removal and from 24% to 61% for COD removal at the neutral value of pH 7. The solar photocatalyst TiO2/ZnO/air process enhanced treatment efficiency from 18% to 79% for TOC and from 24% to 51% for COD removal at the neutral value of pH 7. Thus, these two new methods should be the best choice in applications to remove the COD and TOC from the petroleum wastewater in SOR

JE LI PRISUTNOST NEOVISNIH DIREKTORA SMANJUJE PRAKSE UPRAVLJANJA PLAĆAMA? MODERIRAJUĆA ULOGA KONCENTRACIJE OBITELJSKOG VLASNIŠTVA

While often criticized, the independence of directors remains a crucial criterion for evaluating the effectiveness of the monitoring role of boards. This study examines the relationship between board independence and earnings management, paying attention to moderation role of family ownership concentration on this relationship using a sample of services companies listed on Amman Stock Exchange ASE. This study documented a significant and negative association between board independence and earnings management. In addition, the moderating role of family ownership concentration on this relationship was also negative. Thus, the board’s monitoring function was inefficient due to the concentration of ownership. These results were obtained through using multiple and sequential regression analysis for the research data from 2013 to 2016. This study provides new ideas for future research such as examining the impacts of the migration of capitals and investors from neighbouring countries such as Syria and Iraq.Iako se često kritizira, neovisnost direktora ostaje ključni kriterij za procjenu učinkovitosti nadzorne uloge odbora direktora. Ovo istraživanje ispituje odnos između neovisnosti odbora direktora i upravljanja plaćama, s posebnom pažnjom na moderirajuću ulogu koncentracije obiteljskog vlasništva na ovaj odnos, a uz pomoć uzorka uslužnih korporacija koje su na ammanskoj burzi. Ovo istraživanje je potvrdilo značajnu, negativnu povezanost između neovisnosti odbora direktora i upravljanja plaćama. Osim toga, moderirajuća uloga obiteljskog vlasništva na ovu korelaciju je također bila negativna. Stoga se nadzorna uloga odbora direktora pokazala neučinkovita zbog koncentracije obiteljskog vlasništva. Rezultati su dobiveni korištenjem višestruke i sekvencijske regresijske analize podataka u razdoblju od 2013. do 2016. godine. Istraživanje pruža nove ideje za buduća istraživanja kao što su ispitivanje utjecaja kretanja kapitala i investitora iz susjednih zemalja kao što su Sirija i Irak

Effect of Reactive Power Capability of the PV Inverter on the Power System Quality

Distributed generation (DG) based on a photovoltaic system (PV) connected to a power system is a very promising solution to meet the present demand for energy and to reap the advantages of using clean energy. With the exponential increase in the deployment of distributed energy sources based on renewable energy, the reactive power drawn from the grid has increased dramatically compared to the active power. This affects the quality of the power from the network. Reactive power is usually required to regulate the power factor and the grid voltage so as to improve the ability of the system to handle power. In this paper, the reactive power capacity of a PV inverter connected to the grid was determined using the MATLAB/Simulink program. The power (active and reactive) injected into the network were independently controlled by their reference values. A study was conducted on the effects of the injection/absorption of reactive power on the quality of power under different operating conditions

Detection of internal and external faults of single-phase induction motor using current signature

The main aim of this work is to analyze the input current waveform for a single-phase induction capacitor-run motor (SIMCR) to detect the faults. Internal and external faults were applied to the SIMCR and the current was measured. An armature (broken rotor bar) and bearing faults were applied to the SIMCR. A microcontroller was used to record the motor current signal and MATLAB software was used to analyze it with the different types of fault with varying load operations. Various values of the running capacitor were used to investigate the effect of these values on the wave-current shape. Total harmonic distortion (THD) for the voltage and current was measured. A deep demonstration of the experimental results was also provided for a better understanding of the mechanisms of bearing and armature faults (broken rotor bars) and the vibration was recorded. Spectral and power analyses revealed the difference in total harmonic distortion. The proposed method in this paper can be used in various industrial applications and this technique is quite cheap and helps most of the researchers and very effectual

The Future of Renewable Energy in Iraq: Potential and Challenges

Renewable energy (RE) is currently viewed as a planned and effective option to achieve development sustainability, as it provides an appropriate answer to climate change and also meets the power requirements. With regards to the current scenario in Iraq, a grave deficit with regards to electric power has been looming in the country and this serious shortage in equipped power started decades ago. Various prospects exist regarding the adoption of renewable energy in order to deal with the current issue pertaining to power shortage. This present study is a crucial examination of the existing and future electrical power needs in Iraq and the ongoing planning and challenges that are deliberated, for a better understanding of the prospects of utilizing Renewable energy sources for investment as well as to be able to provide energy to all those who need it in Iraq. Hopefully, this study can support researchers in earning an in-depth understanding of previous research efforts on this subject, and in exploring directions for future research