Rethinking reactive halogen budgets in the midlatitude lower stratosphere

Current stratospheric models have difficulties in fully explaining the observed midlatitude ozone depletion in the lowermost stratosphere, particularly near the tropopause. Such models assume that only long-lived source gases provide significant contributions to the stratospheric halogen budget, while all the short-lived compounds are removed in the troposphere, the products being rained out. Here we show this assumption to be flawed. Using bromine species as an example, we show that in the lowermost stratosphere, where the observed midlatitude ozone trend maximizes, bromoform (CHBr3) alone likely contributes more inorganic bromine than all the conventional long-lived sources (halons and methyl bromide) combined. Copyright 1999 by the American Geophysical Union

Effect of local and regional sources on the isotopic composition of nitrous oxide in the tropical free troposphere and tropopause layer

Measurements and models of the spatiotemporal variability of surface N 2O mixing ratios and isotopic compositions are increasingly used to constrain the global N2O budget. However, large variability observed on the small spatial scales of soil chambers and shipboard sampling, which appears to be very sensitive to local environmental conditions, has made extrapolation to the global scale difficult. In this study, we present measurements of the isotopic composition of N2O (δ 15Nbulk, δ15N, δ15N, and δ18O) from whole-air samples collected at altitudes of 0.5 to 19km by the NASA DC-8 and WB-57 aircraft during the Costa Rica-Aura Validation Experiment (CR-AVE) and the Tropical Composition, Cloud and Climate Coupling Experiment (TC4) campaigns in January-February 2006 and July-August 2007, respectively. The vertical profiles of isotopic composition showed predictable, repeating patterns consistent with the influence of a surface source at lower altitudes and the influence of stratospheric photochemistry in the lower stratosphere. Their correlations with marine tracers at lower altitudes are consistent with a predominantly oceanic source, although a soil source cannot be ruled out. Measurements in a combustion plume revealed a strong depletion in 15N at the central nitrogen atom (i.e., low δ15N values), providing new information on N2O isotopic compositions from combustion. This new data set demonstrates that a coherent picture of the isotopic composition of tropospheric N2O is possible at currently attainable precisions and that its variations from 0.5 km to the lower stratosphere are a useful tool in investigating the sources and distributions of this important greenhouse gas. Copyright 2010 by the American Geophysical Union

Inequality in the Southern Mediterranean: A survey of selected countries. MEDPRO Technical Report No. 23/December 2012

This paper addresses the issues of current levels of inequality: their trends, determinants and future scenarios, demonstrating that welfare levels are measured by per capita consumption. Location, educational attainment and employment status have been identified as the key factors affecting levels of welfare and its distribution. A benefit incidence analysis was performed to investigate benefits of different deciles of per capita expenditure from education and health services. The inequality patterns in countries under investigation present significant variations; countries such as Turkey, Morocco and Tunisia show relatively high inequality while others, such as Egypt or Syria, show moderate to low inequality. Inequality in human development was addressed using the inequality-adjusted human development index (IHDI), introduced by Global HDR 2010. The average loss in the HDI due to inequality in all Arab countries under investigation is about 20%. Two reference scenarios (optimistic and pessimistic) were used to project future paths up to 2020 and 2030. The impact of positive growth is increasing inequality and a shrinking middle class. Results show that the rich benefit most from this growth path. The opposite trend is observed for the pessimistic scenario

Extent of Commitment of Lebanese Banks to Principles of Governance (An Empirical Study)

The novel inclination towards applying principles of governance in banks constitutes a great challenge to banks around the world, especially in developing countries. It is especially challenging for Lebanese banks to apply principles of governance because its economy is passing through a very delicate period. This paper aims at studying the extent of commitment of Lebanese banks to principles of governance according to Basel Committee. It is of great importance that Lebanese banks should be committed to these principles to be able to face present and future challenges since applying principles of governance enhances trust of investors, shareholders and other related parties in addition to related international organizations which are closely watching the Lebanese economy. The researchers utilized a five-point Likert Style questionnaire which includes 56 items and asked employees of 10 banks operating in Lebanon to respond to them. Among those employees were board members, executives, internal auditors and heads of departments. The research reached some important findings, most importantly that Lebanese banks are totally committed to principles of governance. This enables Lebanese banks to have a positive impact on investors, shareholders and other parties, which might enhance the bank’s competitive position and attract a greater number of investors, depositors and stockholders

End of Life-Decisions: An Islamic Perspective

Patients who live with a low quality of life and suffer from chronic pain may wish to end their suffering through different means such as active euthanasia, passive euthanasia, and physician-assisted suicide. These alternatives to end one’s own life create many ethical dilemmas for health care professionals, patients, and family members. Some of these decisions are forbidden in Islamic Religion, while others are permitted. In this paper, the authors will discuss how Islam looks at these decisions. Knowing about how Islam deals with such decisions will be of great help for health care providers who take care of Muslim patients. It will also help patients and their families in making their decisions at the end of life

The portrayal of local and the international cultures in the Sudanese English Language Syllabus (Spine)

This paper explores issues related to the portrayal of the local culture as well as international culture in the English Language materials used in Sudanese schools The researcher then intends to venture into a thorough evaluation of the elements of different cultures in SPINE syllabus Sudan Practical Integrated national English series book 1to6 This study employs a set of checklist which has been used as a guideline to analyze the cultural aspects in a curriculum in order to examine English Language textbooks used in schools in Sudan The findings show that there was insufficient incorporation of cultural aspects into the English materials Many of the available cultural elements were presented at a superficial level and not discussed within the holistic cultural experience The findings suggest that the absence and the lack of certain cultural aspects in the materials may be due to the fact some cultural topics are avoided fearing sensitivity and that they may be implicitly portrayed through for example value integration moral and educational emphasis This study recommends that language learning materials must be able to present the language learners own culture and all the cultures that surround them and the materials must be useful and effective both as English learning materials as well as a tool for promoting cultural knowledge and understanding among Sudanese student

Strengthening Statehood Capabilities for Successful Transitions in the Middle East / North Africa Region

In this monograph, Dr. Mohammed El-Katiri focuses on the variety of challenges that face reform attempts in the post-revolution Arab countries. He examines underlying factors that have prevented new political elites and post-revolution institutions from successfully implementing essential reforms. He explains how these failures have affected the building of these countries\u27 political legitimacy. Dr. El-Katiri concludes with a series of specific policy recommendations, with the aim of preventing further deterioration to the detriment of U.S. interests.https://press.armywarcollege.edu/monographs/1458/thumbnail.jp

State-Building Challenges in a Post-Revolution Libya

Following the overthrow of Muammar Qadhafi, Libya’s National Transitional Council inherited a difficult and volatile domestic situation. The new leadership faces serious challenges in all areas of statehood. Libya’s key geostrategic position, and role in hydrocarbon production and exportation, means that the internal developments in Libya are crucial not only to the Libyan people, but also to neighboring countries both in North Africa and across the Mediterranean in southern Europe. Therefore, mitigation or prevention of conditions that could lead to Libya becoming a failing or failed state is of vital importance. A review of the major challenges to the new Libyan regime, including the continuing role of tribalism and the difficulty posed by the new government’s lack of monopoly on ensuring security in Tripoli and beyond are discussed. Special attention is given to the key issues of concern that foreign partners should have when engaging with the new Libyan leadership; and a number of policy recommendations are made as well. Libya’s immediate future is of critical importance, and will determine whether the country faces state consolidation or state failure.https://press.armywarcollege.edu/monographs/1537/thumbnail.jp

Consistency, Stability and Convergence of the Viscous Garabedian and Korn (VGK) Method

The Viscous Garabedian and Korn (VGK) is a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code, used for the prediction of viscous flows around two dimensional aerofoil sections (mapped onto a circular grid) in a subsonic free stream. The code is written in “Fortran 77” and solves the full potential flow equations using a finite difference algorithm. The code has been recently published commercially with a data preparation routine to facilitate its use [1]. The present work investigates the code’s consistency, stability and convergence in the hope that it will shed light on the code’s performance and limitations under various flow conditions and code’s numerical parameters

Crystalline Accommodation Law Explains The Crystalline Structure of Materials

All crystalline materials crystallize in one of seven crystalline systems which have different shapes and sizes. Why crystalline materials take particular forms of crystals and what make the atoms arrange themselves in these forms. Actually, until now there is no well defined law can account for the crystalline structure of materials. Here we show that the crystalline accommodation law, which is theoretically derived and experimentally verified, can explain the crystalline structure of all types of phases. This law is derived directly from the quantum conditions on the free electrons Fermi gas inside the crystal. The new law relates both the volume of Fermi sphere VF and volume of Brillouin zone VB to the valence electron concentration VEC as,    for all crystalline systems and phases, where n is the number of atoms per lattice point or primitive cell. Also because of this law, we introduce the occupied electronic quantum states notation (OEQS), which determine the number of occupied zones in the valence band