Factors affecting the calculations of Return on Investment (ROI) in Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) projects In Egypt

Public authorities and governments in many countries tended to allocate to the private sector the operations management of existing PPP projects and for financing new projects. There are a lot of benefits from following this approach for all parties. These benefits included risk mitigation, cost savings in governmental expendures, service improvement, employment opportunities, and enhancement in economic indices. This approach was called public-private partnership (PPP). This term was defined as “a cooperative venture between the public and private sectors, built on the expertise of each partner that best meets clearly defined public needs through the appropriate allocation of resources, risks and rewards.” (World Bank, 2016) Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) projects become an important methodology for governments of both developed and developing countries, as a result from crucial role and their worldwide use. The PPP methodology enables public authorities and governments to allocate risks to different parties especially the private sector. According to the World Bank report the private financial participation in Egypt has accounted $219,229.82 Million in the period from 1990 to 2000. This figure has increased to$998,667.36 Million in 2015. (World Bank, 2016) PPP projects are usually more difficult to implement than other traditional procurement models because of their complexity and that their nature and their long duration. Previous research studies on several PPP projects showed that a number of problems exist in the project returns. Additionally these researches show that there is a need for an objective, reliable and practical return assessment model for PPP projects. This required model will help decision makers to assess the profitability of PPP projects at their early stages. To apply PPP projects in Egypt successfully, one of the fundamental requirements is to perform and implement a comprehensive analysis of Return on Investment (ROI). To do that analysis, it should include the factors affecting the ROI relating the projects’ influences such as ; financial, legal, political ,social, etc

Conquering the Sahara and Arabian deserts: Systematics and biogeography of Stenodactylus geckos (Reptilia: Gekkonidae)

[Background] The evolutionary history of the biota of North Africa and Arabia is inextricably tied to the complex geological and climatic evolution that gave rise to the prevalent deserts of these areas. Reptiles constitute an exemplary group in the study of the arid environments with numerous well-adapted members, while recent studies using reptiles as models have unveiled interesting biogeographical and diversification patterns. In this study, we include 207 specimens belonging to all 12 recognized species of the genus Stenodactylus. Molecular phylogenies inferred using two mitochondrial (12S rRNA and 16S rRNA) and two nuclear (c-mos and RAG-2) markers are employed to obtain a robust time-calibrated phylogeny, as the base to investigate the inter- and intraspecific relationships and to elucidate the biogeographical history of Stenodactylus, a genus with a large distribution range including the arid and hyper-arid areas of North Africa and Arabia.[Results] The phylogenetic analyses of molecular data reveal the existence of three major clades within the genus Stenodactylus, which is supported by previous studies based on morphology. Estimated divergence times between clades and sub-clades are shown to correlate with major geological events of the region, the most important of which is the opening of the Red Sea, while climatic instability in the Miocene is hypothesized to have triggered diversification. High genetic variability is observed in some species, suggesting the existence of some undescribed species. The S. petrii - S. stenurus species complex is in need of a thorough taxonomic revision. New data is presented on the distribution of the sister species S. sthenodactylus and S. mauritanicus. [Conclusions] The phylogenetic hypothesis for the genus Stenodactylus presented in this work permits the reconstruction of the biogeographical history of these common desert dwellers and confirms the importance of the opening of the Red Sea and the climatic oscillations of the Miocene as major factors in the diversification of the biota of North Africa and Arabia. Moreover, this study traces the evolution of this widely distributed and highly specialized group, investigates the patterns of its high intraspecific diversity and elucidates its systematics.[Results] The phylogenetic analyses of molecular data reveal the existence of three major clades within the genus Stenodactylus, which is supported by previous studies based on morphology. Estimated divergence times between clades and sub-clades are shown to correlate with major geological events of the region, the most important of which is the opening of the Red Sea, while climatic instability in the Miocene is hypothesized to have triggered diversification. High genetic variability is observed in some species, suggesting the existence of some undescribed species. The S. petrii - S. stenurus species complex is in need of a thorough taxonomic revision. New data is presented on the distribution of the sister species S. sthenodactylus and S. mauritanicus. [Conclusions] The phylogenetic hypothesis for the genus Stenodactylus presented in this work permits the reconstruction of the biogeographical history of these common desert dwellers and confirms the importance of the opening of the Red Sea and the climatic oscillations of the Miocene as major factors in the diversification of the biota of North Africa and Arabia. Moreover, this study traces the evolution of this widely distributed and highly specialized group, investigates the patterns of its high intraspecific diversity and elucidates its systematics.This work was supported by grants CGL2009-11663⁄BOS from the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Spain, Fondos FEDER - EU, and 2012RU0055 from the Consejo de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC) and the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR). SC and MM are members of the Grup de Recerca Emergent of the Generalitat de Catalunya: 2009SGR1462; MM is supported by a FPU predoctoral grant from the Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte, Spain (AP2008-01844). Some phylogenetic analyses were run in the cluster facility of the IBE funded by the Spanish National Bioinformatics Institute (http://www.inab.org) and in the CIPRES Science Gateway web portal. Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (España) European Commission Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (España) Russian Foundation for Basic Research Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte (España) Instituto Nacional de Bioinformática (España)Peer Reviewe

An Evaluation of the Taxonomic Validity of Testudo werneri

The Egyptian tortoise Testudo kleinmanni was recently split into two species on the basis of apparent differences in shell morphology and markings. Testudo kleinmanni was restricted to areas west of the Nile river and a new form, T. werneri, was described which occurred east of the Nile river (Perälä, 2001). However, when the morphometric analysis on which this decision was based (Perälä, 2001) was adjusted to allow for experiment-wise Type I error, by using P-value corrections, the proportion of the 46 characters that differed significantly between the two populations fell from 36.9% to only 13% in males and from 39.1% to just 8.7% in females. We then conducted a new morphometric analysis using our own data set that showed minor significant variation in morphometric and plastron markings between populations. An analysis of mitochondrial DNA based on 393 base pairs of the 12S rRNA gene, also showed near uniformity of western and eastern populations. Genetic divergence was only 0.2%, with the only consistent difference being a single G – A substitution at position 205. Based on the revised interpretation of Perälä (2001) results, our morphometric analysis on our own data set, and the molecular evidence, the variation observed between populations is normal within a species and therefore T. werneri is not a distinct independent evolutionary lineage and should not be considered a separate species from T. kleinmanni