Towards Sustainable Middle Eastern Cities: A Local Sustainability Assessment Framework

The construction of a guiding methodological framework for local sustainability assessment is a key to achieving a sustainable future. This study develops an approach to local sustainability assessment (ALSA), a methodological framework that facilitates the formulation, selection and prioritisation of key indicators to guide the assessment of city sustainability at a local level in Middle Eastern cities. Based on a literature review, this research devised a methodological framework, ALSA, which is a combination of the Commission on Sustainable Development’s (CSD)Theme Indicator Framework (2001) (themes, sub themes and indicators) and a Goal-Based Framework (indicators that most directly reflect the issues of a case study and its local communities and stakeholders). This combination framework is shown to be more appropriate in this instance than other types of frameworks, in terms of overcoming some inherent weaknesses, leading to the adoption of a top-down / bottom-up approach. Such an approach is shown to be the best way of developing indicators which are (top-down) scientifically valid and generic with (bottom-up) stakeholder and local communities needs. The ALSA methodological framework involves four steps, which are: issue identification, objective formulation, indicator formulation and indicator selecting and ranking. The first set of proposed indicators contained 98 indicators. This set of proposed indicators was revised and analysed by means of a series of shared ideas from literature and through consultation with experts from specific areas, using a workshop format. This revision stage was used to reformulate and select valid and useful indicators (comparable, measurable, and sensitive). The second set of valid and useful indicators (after the first revisions) contains 57 indicators. The indicators were ranked on the basis of priority to identify a final set of indicators that cover the four dimensions of sustainability, which are defined within this work as environmental, social, economic and institutional. The evaluation (SWOT analysis) of this framework was examined during this study. The city of Hilla, Iraq, was selected as a case study to prove the applicability of the ALSA methodological framework in a real world case study. It is argued that this study is pioneering in adding knowledge and understanding of the development of a methodological framework to provide local sustainability indicators in a post-conflict, Middle Eastern city in an oil-rich country. It is concluded that the ALSA methodological framework provides an efficient and rigorous approach for the formulation, selection and prioritization of key indicators that will measure and encapsulate the essence of a sustainable city and could help Middle Eastern cities achieve higher levels of progress towards sustainability in practice.Self fundin

Data mining and statistical analysis of completions in the Canadian Montney formation

This thesis documents a data-mining study and statistical analysis of well completion methods and their impact on production for more than 3300 horizontal wells in the Canadian Montney resource play. The statistical software JMP is used to analyze well and production data for both horizontal Montney gas and oil wells, examining production trends with changes in completion parameters, such as the type of completion, fluid volume pumped, proppant load, number of fracture stages and completion costs. The analysis also provides a general understanding of average treatment characteristics, and how completions have changed with time for the Montney play. Among the many results of this work, it is shown that there is a limit to adding stages to well completions in the Montney. While additional completed stages may increase cumulative recovery, the recovery per stage decreases after a point. This conclusion is consistent with recent findings (VISAGE and Jim Gouveia 2014). In addition, findings of the study clearly demonstrate that wells with the smallest frac fluid load recovery have the best cumulative recovery with time, and spending more for the completion translates into higher recovery. This work is important as it is the first field-wide statistical review of wells completed in the Montney using large up to date dataset --Abstract, page iii

Insights into well performance and completion optimization using a coupled FracFocus and DrillingInfo database

“The hydraulic fracturing designs, drilling, and completion trends are undergoing continuous change as the oil and gas industry pushing the boundaries of the traditional designs to increase wells productivity and meet the energy demand. The lateral length in addition to the amount of proppant and water used in well stimulation have witnessed a paradigm shift over the past few years. The motivation for this work began with a desire to better understand well performance as a function of the type of fracturing fluid treatment applied. An early objective was to compare whether East Texas Cotton Valley wells stimulated with water fracs had better long-term performance than similar wells stimulated with gelled fluids. This initial work revealed challenges in acquiring sufficient data for the research, which led to the objective of building a new database from publically available information and then using that information to address the research questions. Developing this database required novel methods of determining at least two key parameters not readily available. One parameter was fluid and proppant volumes, as the FracFocus database reports mass percentages. The second parameter was perforated lateral length as a proxy for fracturing stage data, which was not available for this research. This work resulted in a methodology for combining FracFocus fluid data with DrillingInfo. A dashboard was also developed to facilitate easy analysis with the newly created database. Once the database and dashboard were available, secondary objectives were to identify completion trends in specific shale play areas, such as the Marcellus and Permian Basin, and to apply data analytics to specific shale play areas”--Abstract, page iv

A Development Framework for Smart Cities Assessment

يزداد استخدام المدينة الذكية كاستراتيجية للحد من المشاكل الناجمة عن التحضر السريع والنمو السكاني الحضري. وعلى الرغم من أن المدن تواصل تطوير وتنقية أهدافها الاجتماعية والاقتصادية والبيئية إلى جانب استراتيجيات تحقيقها، فقد نوقشت هذه الظاهرة من خلال أبحاث قليلة. ونظرا للحاجة الملحة لتطبيق عملي لمبادئ المدن الذكية، وسلطات المدينة وأصحاب المصلحة والمجتمعات المحلية هناك حاجة  إلى فهم كيفية أداء المدينة الذكية اليوم وكيف يتم تحقيق التقدم في أنظمتها. ولذلك، فإن بناء إطار لتقييم المدن الذكية هو مفتاح حاسم للمساعدة في التوصيل الى نقاط القوة والضعف الناشئة، وتسليط الضوء على أين يتم إحراز تقدم حقيقي ووضع خطة للتقدم في المستقبل. وعلاوة على ذلك، فإن هذا التقييم قادر على مساعدة المدن على إعطاء الأولوية للإجراءات. وقد وضع هذا البحث إطارا لتقييم اداء المدن الذكية من شأنه أن يسهل صياغة واختيار أولويات المؤشرات الرئيسية التي يمكن أن توجه عندئذ تقييم ورصد أداء المدن الذكية واستنادا إلى الأدبيات السابقة على المدن الذكية، بالإضافة إلى مقابلات تم اجرائها  فان هذه الدراسة تقوم على  تحديد أداة جيدة للمساعدة في فهم الإنجاز النسبي للمدينة الذكية. وعلاوة على ذلك، من المهم أن نأخذ في الاعتبار تقييم مدى المدينة الذكية.A smart city is rising as an approach and strategy to reduce the troubles produced by rapid urbanization and the growth of urban population. Although, cities continue to develop and purify their social, economic and environmental goals along with the strategies to achieve them, this phenomenon has been discussed by little research yet. However, due to the requiring immediate action or attention for practical application of the principles of smart cities, city authorities, stakeholders and local communities need to know the current reality of their city and where development is being attained in their systems. Therefore, constructing a framework for smart cities assessment will help share or exchange the newcomer strong and weak points, and emphasize where actual development is taking place and update a plan for future developments. Moreover, this assessment is able to assist cities prioritizes actions. This paper developed a guiding assessment framework for smart cites that will help the creating, carefully choosing and priorities of crucial indicators. These indicators can then show the way to the smart cites performance assessment and monitoring. Drawing on the investigation of an extensive and wide collection of literature from a variety of disciplinary areas and based on the conceptual literature on smart cities, in addition to interviews this study identify a good tool to help recognizing of virtual achievement of smart city. Furthermore, it is significant to be taken into consideration in assessing smart city smartness level

The Global Project of the Professor Taha Jabir Al-Alwani: Enriching and Reviewing the Islamic Experience in International Relations

This paper tracks the development of a scholar whose writings have renewed the civilizational studies on global and humanitarian levels through universal unification, humanitarian recommendation, and psychological reconstruction. The impact of this intellectual renewal in international relations is assessed in this study. The first part evaluates the Islamic experience in international relations by considering the values and globalism inherent to international relations concepts. In this context, the study considers the book of Al-Diyar Jurisprudence interpretation and its impact on classifying people in terms of their beliefs. It reviews the impact of these beliefs on the “human unity”. It also underscores the reconsideration of the earth as a single home for a single family and how people need to be classified based on coexistence. This is followed by a consideration of the Holy Quran a source of judgement, where renewal has reinstated the Holy Book in terms of content, revelation, an address to all people, a source of their values, and as a means of shaping globalism. The second section offers a critique of western civilization, its knowledge patterns, and the call for a globalized western civilization model. The third section considers the nature of post-Cold War characteristics, including: the impact of the internet revolution on closeness among world communities and the justification for a global residence; the cultural impact of these developments, and the influence of cross-national factors in international relations such as religious movements. Keywords: International Political Development, Global value matrix, globalism, succession on earth, human rights, Foreign Relations, globalizatio

Towards Sustainable Middle Eastern Cities: A Local Sustainability Assessment Framework

للمساعدة في جعل مدن الشرق الأوسط أكثر استدامة، يعتبر إطار عمل منهجي توجيهي لتقييم الاستدامة المحلية هو المفتاح لتحقيق مستقبل مستدام. تبحث هذه الورقة في الأطر المتاحة وتطور مقاربة لتقييم الاستدامة المحلية، من خلال بناء إطار منهجي باستخدام مزيج من منهج (من أسفل إلى أعلى) ومن (أعلى إلى أسفل). هذا يسهل صياغة واختيار وترتيب أولويات المؤشرات الرئيسية التي يمكن بعد ذلك توجيه تقييم استدامة المدينة على المستوى المحلي في الشرق الأوسط. تطبق الورقة أخيرًا إطار المنهجية على مدينة الحلة العراقية وتنجح في صياغة وتصنيف 57 مؤشراً صالحاً للاستدامة.To assist in making Middle Eastern cities more sustainable a guiding methodological framework for local sustainability assessment is key to achieving a sustainable future. This paper investigates available frameworks and develops an approach to local sustainability assessment (LSA), by constructing a methodological framework utilising a combination of (bottom-up) and (top-down) approaches. This facilitates the formulation, selection and prioritisation of key indicators, which can then guide the assessment of a city’s sustainability at a local level in the Middle East. The paper finally applies the LSA methodological framework to the Iraqi city of Hilla and succeeds in formulating and ranking 57 useful and valid sustainability indicators

Experimental Investigation of Environmentally Friendly Drilling Fluid Additives (Mandarin Peels Powder) to Substitute the Conventional Chemicals Used in Water-Based Drilling Fluid

The non-biodegradable additives used in controlling drilling fluid properties cause harm to the environment and personal safety. Thus, there is a need for alternative drilling fluid additives to reduce the amount of non-biodegradable waste disposed to the environment. This work investigates the potential of using mandarin peels powder (MPP), a food waste product, as a new environmentally friendly drilling fluid additive. A complete set of tests were conducted to recognize the impact of MPP on the drilling fluid properties. The results of MPP were compared to low viscosity polyanionic cellulose (PAC-LV), commonly used chemical additive for the drilling fluid. The results showed that MPP reduced the alkalinity by 20-32% and modified the rheological properties (plastic viscosity, yield point, and gel strength) of the drilling fluid. The fluid loss decreased by 44-68% at concentrations of MPP as less as 1-4%, and filter cake was enhanced as well when comparing to the reference mud. In addition, MPP had a negligible to minor impact on mud weight, and this effect was resulted due to foaming issues. Other properties such as salinity, calcium content, and resistivity were negligibly affected by MPP. This makes MPP an effective material to be used as pH reducer, a viscosity modifier, and an excellent fluid loss agent. This work also provides a practical guide for minimizing the cost of the drilling fluid through economic, environmental, and safety considerations, by comparing MPP with PAC-LV

Testosterone and Covid‐19: An update

Abstract: There is overwhelming evidence to suggest that male gender is at a higher risk of developing more severe Covid‐19 disease and thus having poorer clinical outcomes. However, the relationship between testosterone (T) and Covid‐19 remains unclear with both protective and deleterious effects on different aspects of the disease suggested. Here, we review the current epidemiological and biological evidence on the role of testosterone in the process of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection and in mediating Covid‐19 severity, its potential to serve as a biomarker for risk stratification and discuss the possibility of T supplementation as a treatment or preventative therapy for Covid‐19

Experimental Investigation of Bio-Enhancer Drilling Fluid Additive: Can Palm Tree Leaves Be Utilized as a Supportive Eco-Friendly Additive in Water-Based Drilling Fluid System?

Serious problems will be presented due to using conventional chemical additives to regulate the drilling mud properties, as they have health, safety, and environmental side effects. Thus, there is a considerable necessity for alternative multifunctional bio-enhancer drilling mud additives, which can assist in optimizing the drilling fluid specifications and enhance its effectiveness with the least effects on the environment and the drilling personnel safety. The effects of adding two concentrations of palm tree leaves powder (PTLP) to water-based mud were conducted under fresh and aged conditions using standard API drilling fluids testing methods such as rheometer/viscometer, pH meter and temperature, and filter press. All tests results were minutely recorded to understand the influence of PTLP additives on the drilling mud properties. The results indicated that PTLP as an effective material to be used as pH reducer, viscosity reducer, and as an excellent filtration loss control agent under the surface and sub-surface conditions. Thus, PTLP has excellent feasibility to be utilized as biodegradable drilling mud additive replacing or at least supporting other conventional chemical additives, which have usually been used for the same purposes such as lignosulphonate, chrome-lignite, and Resinex. Finally, this work can serve as a practical guide for minimizing the cost of the drilling fluid and reducing the amount of non-biodegradable waste disposed to the environment

Voiding function improves under long-term testosterone treatment (TTh) in hypogonadal men, independent of prostate size

Background Functional hypogonadism is a condition in which some, but not all, older men have low testosterone levels. Rather than chronological age per se, the causality of hypogonadism includes obesity and impaired general health (e.g., metabolic syndrome). An association between testosterone deficiency and lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) has been reported, yet due to prostate safety concerns, men with severe LUTS (IPSS score > 19) have invariably been excluded from entering testosterone trials. Irrespective, exogenous testosterone has not been demonstrated to cause de novo or worsen mild to moderate LUTS. Objective This study investigated whether long-term testosterone therapy (TTh) could have a protective effect on improving the symptoms of LUTS in hypogonadal men. However, the exact mechanism by which testosterone exerts is beneficial effect remains uncertain. Patients and methods In this study 321 hypogonadal patients with an average age of 58.9 ± 9.52 years received testosterone undecanoate in 12-week intervals for 12 years. One hundred and forty-seven of these males had the testosterone treatment interrupted for a mean of 16.9 months before it was resumed. Total testosterone, International Prostate Symptom Scale (IPSS), post-voiding residual bladder volume and aging male symptoms (AMS) were measured over the study period. Results Prior to TTh interruption, it was observed that testosterone stimulation improved the men’s IPSS, AMS and post-voiding residual bladder volume, while their prostate volume significantly increased. During the TTh interruption, there was a significant worsening in these parameters, although the increase in prostate volume continued. When TTh was resumed, these effects were reversed, implying that hypogonadism may require lifelong treatment