The Identification and Characterization of Bacterial Endosymbionts in the Planthopper Family, Issidae (sternorrhyncha:Fulgoroidea)

Many insects live on nutrient-poor diets; to compensate, they have evolved obligate associations with microorganisms that are transmitted directly between generations. The bacterial associates of some Hemiptera insects have been identified and understood, but several remain unknown. Our objective is to identify the diversity of bacterial endosymbionts in Issidae using modern microscopy and molecular methods, and compare their identities to known symbionts from related insects. To do so, we will extract DNA from insect samples, amplify bacterial symbiont 16S genes, sub-clone PCR products, sequence the products, and determine their phylogenetic relationships to other insect symbionts and free-living bacteria. Our study will contribute to a broader understanding of the diversity and evolution of symbiotic associations in insects

Board Characterstics and Firm Performance: Case of Saudi Arabia

Corporate governance (CG) has received much attention in the current studies all over the world especially after many corporate scandals and the failures of some biggest firms around the world such as Commerce Bank (1991) Enron (2001), Adelphia (2002), and World Com (2002). The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between board mechanisms (audit committee size, audit committee composition, board size, and board composition) and firm performance (ROA) based on the annual reports of listed companies in the year 2011 of sample of non-financial firms in the Saudi Market (Tadawul). For the purpose of this study, data was collected from a sample of 102 non-financial listed companies. Furthermore, an analysis of regression analysis is utilized to examine the relationship between board characteristics and firm performance. The results of this study reveal that audit committee size, audit committee composition and board size have no effect on firm performance in the selected sample while board composition has a significant negative relationship with firm performance

Institutional directors and corporate social responsibility disclosure in the Jordanian banks

This study examines the impact of institutional directors on the level of corporate social responsibility disclosure (CSRD) in the Jordanian banks.A comprehensive CSR checklist, consisting of 100 items, is designed to collect the data from 147 observations from 2004 to 2013.The descriptive analysis shows, relatively, a low level of CSRD with a mean of 46%. In addition, institutional directors occupy 46.4% of the banks’ board seats. The analysis shows that 11% of the institutional directors are serving as CEOs, 22.5% are independent institutional directors and 65.5% are non-independent non-executive directors.Results from multiple regression analysis show that institutional directors, has a negative and non-significant impact on the level of CSRD.However, we break down the institutional directors to two groups based on their status; institutional independent directors and institutional non-independent non-executive directors.The results show that the two groups have positive significant impacts on the level of CSRD.Then, the institutional CEO (CEO institutional-affiliated) is analyzed and it has a significant negative impact.Regarding the control variables, bank age and leverage significantly and positively enhance the CSRD while board size and profitability (ROA) are insignificantly related to CSRD

PalAST: A Cross-Platform Mobile Application for Automated Disk Diffusion Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing

Antibiotic resistance is the ability of bacteria to resist the effects of antibiotics, making infections more difficult to treat and increasing the risk of complications and death. One way to fight antibiotic resistance is by identifying the most effective antibiotics for treating bacterial infections. This can be done through a laboratory test called AST, which is used to determine the susceptibility of bacteria to antibiotics. However, manual AST has several limitations that include time delay, limited accuracy, limited testing capacity, and subjective interpretation of results. Therefore, there is an emergent need for a more reliable and efficient alternative to manual AST. Recently, few works have tried to automate disk diffusion AST through AI-based solutions and mobile applications. However, these works do not support advanced analysis and interpretation of results, do not present evaluation of detection performance, or are not publicly available to download and use. This work proposes PalAST, a cross-platform mobile application that supports automated disk diffusion AST. The application enables biologists to take AST photos and analyze them in real time with minimal human intervention. It uses image processing and a pre-trained machine learning model to detect antibiotic disks in the agar plate and predict bounding circles for inhibition zones. Then, it provides an interpretation of results including the diameters of the inhibition zones, the labels on the antibiotic disks, and the rating of the bacteria as susceptible, intermediate, or resistant to each antibiotic. PalAST also stores the results of tests, allowing users to access and review past test results. PalAST was tested using a number of real AST photos, and the detection performance was evaluated by using common metrics, i.e. precision, recall, and Intersection over Union. We also used expert evaluation through a questionnaire to assess the usability and ease of use of PalAST

Solar energy to optimize the cost of RO desalination plant case study: Deir Elbalah SWRO plant in Gaza strip

Seawater desalination by reverse osmosis (SWRO) is currently considered as one of the most widely used and reliable technology in providing additional water supply for areas suffering from water scarcity. High energy consumption of Reverse Osmosis plants is one of the biggest challenges, particularly in developing countries such as Palestine. The future demand for fresh water and thus, energy, triggers researchers to find methods to integrate the use of renewable energy for the desalination process. Palestine has a high solar energy potential, where the average of solar radiation intensity on horizontal surface is 5.31kWh/m2 per day. In this research, the possibilities of using solar energy to optimize the cost of the desalination process in Gaza were studied. The research focused on the optimal use of solar energy and selection of the most economically feasible configuration of utilizing this source either fully or partially in the SWRO process. Internal Rate of Return (IRR) was used as an economic indicator to analyze the feasibility of establishing a SWRO desalination plant with a capacity of 600m3/d in Gaza based on the optimal energy sources. The available options of energy sources were Traditional System, Off Grid and On Grid Solar systems. The results for the economic study found that the IRR was 6.6%, 3.80%, and 7.64% for the first, second, and third options respectively. The higher the IRR, the more attractive is the option for the investment. The IRR should be more than the market interest rate by a comfortable margin (6.43% in Palestine). Based on the results, the On Grid Solar System has the ability to balance the system production and Plant power requirements, which is about 105kwh. Considering the On-Grid system, the unit cost for desalinated water was reduced from 1.08$/m3 (Electric utility as a baseline) to 0.89$/m3 which is about 17% saving

The impact of Gaza fishing harbour on the Mediterranean coast of Gaza

The Mediterranean coast of Gaza strip, which is covered about 40 km in length, is rich by coastal resources. The development that occurred along the coastal lines has led to the host of problems such as increased erosion, siltation, loss of coastal resources and the destruction of the fragile marine habitats. In order to conserve the depleting coastal resources, the changes due to development and associated activities must be monitored. Studying the temporal pattern of shoreline change is considered one of the most effective means of monitoring the cumulative effects of different activities. An attempt was made to study the impact of Gaza harbour on shoreline displacement along 6 km. This paper was intended to detect changes of coastal area in Gaza city to provide future database in coastal management studies. The analysis was carried out using image processing technique (ERDAS) and Geographical Information System platform. The variation during 38 years in the shoreline along the Gaza coast was determined by analyzing MSS, TM and ETM Landsat images from 1972 to 2010. The analyses identified the erosion and accretion patterns along the coast. The shoreline was advanced south of the Gaza fishing harbor, where the wave-induced littoral transport was halted by southern breakwater and the annual beach growth rate was 15,900 m 2. On the downdrift side of the harbor, the shoreline was retreating and beaches erode at an annual rate of-14,000 m 2. This study was emphasized that the coastal band is considered as a critical area, it is therefore necessary to monitor coastal zone changes because of the importance of environmental

The Impact of Gaza Fishing Harbour on the Mediterranean Coast of Gaza

The Mediterranean coast of Gaza strip, which is covered about 40 km in length, is rich by coastal resources. The development that occurred along the coastal lines has led to the host of problems such as increased erosion, siltation, loss of coastal resources and the destruction of the fragile marine habitats. In order to conserve the depleting coastal resources, the changes due to development and associated activities must be monitored. Studying the temporal pattern of shoreline change is considered one of the most effective means of monitoring the cumulative effects of different activities. An attempt was made to study the impact of Gaza harbour on shoreline displacement along 6 km. This paper was intended to detect changes of coastal area in Gaza city to provide future database in coastal management studies. The analysis was carried out using image processing technique (ERDAS) and Geographical Information System platform. The variation during 38 years in the shoreline along the Gaza coast was determined by analyzing MSS, TM and ETM Landsat images from 1972 to 2010. The analyses identified the erosion and accretion patterns along the coast. The shoreline was advanced south of the Gaza fishing harbor, where the wave-induced littoral transport was halted by southern breakwater and the annual beach growth rate was 15,900 m2. On the downdrift side of the harbor, the shoreline was retreating and beaches erode at an annual rate of -14,000 m2. This study was emphasized that the coastal band is considered as a critical area, it is therefore necessary to monitor coastal zone changes because of the importance of environmental parameter and human disturbance. In particular, the projections of future shoreline erosion and accretion rates are considered important for long-term planning and environmental assessment for a variety of projects, including the construction and tourism facilities

Mitigation Measures for Gaza Coastal Erosion

Coastal erosion is an ongoing hazard affecting Gaza beach, but is worsening due to a wide range of human activities such as the construction of Gaza fishing harbor in 1994-1998. The net annual alongshore sediment transport is about 190×103 m3, but can vary significantly depending on the severity of winter storms. According to the observed wave heights and directions, the net waves are cross-shore, therefore vast quantities of sediments may transfer to deep sea. The main objective of this study is to mitigate the erosion problem of Gaza coast. Change detection analysis was used to compute the spatial and temporal change of Gaza shoreline between 1972 and 2010. The results show negative rates in general, which means that the erosion was the predominant process. Gaza fishing harbor caused a serious damage to the Beach Camp shoreline. Consequently, several mitigation measures were considered in this study, which are: relocation of Gaza fishing harbor to offshore, groins, detached breakwaters, wide-crested submerged breakwaters and beach nourishment. Several numerical model tests associated with coastal structures are conducted to investigate the influence on morphodynamics. The results show that the relocation of the harbor is the best alternative to stop trapping of the sediments. If for any reason the relocation was not carried out, the wide-crested submerged breakwater alternative is an effective structure for preventing sandy beach erosion. The artificial reef type of submerged breakwaters with beach nourishment is recommended for Gaza beach, because it is an environmentally friendly and improving the ecosystem of marine life

Genetic Algorithm Model to Optimize Water Resources Allocation in Gaza Strip

Groundwater aquifer is considered the main and only water supply source for all kind of human usage in Gaza Strip (domestic, agricultural and industrial). This source is severely deteriorated in both quality and quantity for many reasons, includ- ing low rainfall, dramatic increase in the urban areas and population, pollution from overland activities, and seawater intrusion. In 2011, the Palestinian Water Authority has instituted a plan for integrated management of Gaza water resources that considers introducing of new external water resources to the system such as seawater desalination and treatment and reuse of wastewater. In this work, a genatic algorithm model was developed to seek the optimal combination of the management scenarioios of Pales- tinian water authority plan. The optimization code is designed and run using MATLAB R2011b. The objective function maxim- ized the benefits and minimizes the cost related to the use of different sources of water. The decision variables represents water allocation over different users sectors. The benefits from utilizing water for municipal and industrial purposes are based on the marginal value of water which is derived from the economic equilibrium point between supply and demand curves. The benefits from irrigation water are affected by the relationship between crop yield and salinity. The constraints in the optimiza- tion model are allowed to iterate between two bounds (upper bound and lower bound) until the optimal value for each variable is found. The results show that there is a significant improvement in aquifer’s water levels in the majority area of the Gaza Strip for the planning years 2015, 2025, and 2035 providing that the planned phased desalination and wastewater treatment schemes are implemented in the specifies time horizon. The results show that the resulted quality of available water for agriculture use in term of total weighted average of electrical conductivity is 962 µS/cm in the year 2015, and 876 µS/cm in the year 2025, and 842 µS/cm in the planning year 2035. The results also show that the resulted quality of available water for municipal and industrial use in term of total weighted average of electrical conductivity is 867 µS/cm in the year 2015, and 685 µS/cm in the year 2025, and 631 µS/cm in the planning year 2035