Jerusalem: a Tale of a City

World class cities are few and far between, sometimes referred to as ‘global cities' or simply ‘world cities'. There are no more than a dozen metropolitan areas in the world that can claim this kind of global status. London, New York, Paris, and Tokyo sit at the top of this world city hierarchy. They have enormous concentrations of economic, political, and cultural clout – measured by such things as the number of corporate headquarters, the size of their stock exchanges, the presence of national and International political bodies, and their role in music, fashion, and other cultural activities. What would it take to make a city claimed by two nations and central to three religions “merely” a city, a place of difference and diversity in which contending ideas and citizenries can co-exist in benign yet creative ways? The intractable conflicts in the Middle East and the cycle of violence among Israelis and Palestinians are deeply embedded in historical struggles over national sovereignty and the right to territory. For this reason, questions about whose state will prevail in what physical location have defined the terms of conflict and negotiation. This also has meant that most proposed solutions to “the Middle East problem” have revolved around competing claims of nation-states, their rights to existence, and their physical and juridically-sanctioned relationships to each other. While true generally, this framing of the problem has been especially dominant in the case of Jerusalem, a city that is geographically and historically an overlay of spaces and artifacts that carry deep meaning for competing peoples and nations. The current struggles of Palestinians and Israelis to each claim this hallowed ground as their capital city has added yet another layer of complexity, conflict, and political division, all of which is reflected in the competing/dual nomenclature Al-Quds/Jerusalem used to refer to the city –as well as the violence and contestation that continues to accelerate unabated

Lens dislocation delaying the diagnosis of metastasis to the optic nerve

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AUDIT REPORT LAG: DO COMPANY CHARACTERISTICS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE FACTORS MATTER? EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM LEBANESE COMMERCIAL BANKS

The objective of this study is to investigate the determinants (company specific characteristics and corporate governance factors) of audit report lag (ARL) in a developing country, namely, Lebanon. This paper adds and contributes to the limited literature that investigated the determinants of ARL in the developing Middle East countries through focusing on the Lebanese context. The study is carried out depending on a sample of Lebanese commercial banks operating in Lebanon, covering the period from 2012 to 2017. The researchers used the multiple regression analysis to examine the impact of the explanatory variables on ARL. The results show a significant relationship between ARL and each of bank size, leverage, board independence, board diligence, audit committee (AC) independence, and AC diligence. The regression outcomes reveal that banks with longer ARL are smaller, have higher leverage, their boards and ACs are less diligence, their boards are more independent, and their ACs include less independent and non-executive members

Une Baisse Visuelle Révélant Une Pachyméningite Hypertrophique Idiopathique

Idiopathic hypertrophic pachymeningitis is a rare fibrosing inflammatory disorder that causes thickening of the dura matter of the base of skull. We report a case of a 27 year-old man presented with this pathological form causing a visual decrease. The diagnosing is a dural matter biopsy and the main treatment is steroid and immunosuppressive therapy. Idiopathic hypertrophic pachymeningitis is a differential diagnosis of optic neuropathy

THE IMPACT OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE ON EARNINGS MANAGEMENT IN ISLAMIC AND CONVENTIONAL BANKS

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the association between internal corporate governance and earnings management and to compare earnings management practices in Islamic banks versus conventional banks in the MENA region. Design/methodology/approach – This paper uses an unbalanced panel data of 20 Islamic banks and 100 conventional banks, from eleven countries in the MENA region over the period 2012-2017. Discretionary accruals are used to measure earnings management by estimating loan loss provision. Regression analysis is used to test the hypotheses. Findings – The results indicate that Islamic banks provide fewer earnings management practices compared to conventional banks. Besides, the results show that among the six corporate governance mechanisms studied in this paper only board meetings, board size, and board independence can help in mitigating earnings management for conventional banks. Whereas, for the case of Islamic banks, corporate governance mechanisms have no impact on reducing earnings management. Practical implications – This paper could offer some recommendations for policymakers, regulators, and users of financial statements. The results of this study could assist in improving the monitoring role of the board of directors and understanding the relationship between corporate governance mechanisms and earnings management. Originality/value – This paper contributes by investigating the effect of new mechanisms on earnings management, and by examining earnings management practices in Islamic banks compared to conventional banks in unexamined countries and periods. Keywords Earnings management, Earnings quality, Islamic banks, Conventional banks, Corporate governance mechanisms, Annual reports, MENA region. Paper type Research pape

Effect of different surface treatments on bond strength, surface and microscopic structure of zirconia ceramic

Objectives: To evaluate the effect of different surface treatments; plasma treatment, silica coating using plasma technology and sandblasting, on bond strength, surface roughness and microscopic structure of yttria-stabilized tetragonal zirconia polycrystals(Y-TZP) after thermo-cycling. Matrials and methods: One hundred discs (n ¼ 100) of yttria-stabilized tetragonal zirconia were prepared from (Y-TZP) ceramic blocks using MAD/MAM milling technology, and were divided into four equal groups (n ¼ 25) according to the type of surface treatment. Group (1): control (no surface treatment). Group (2): zirconia discs were sandblasted by alumina particles. Group (3): zirconia discs treated by plasma technology to produce surface roughness. Group (4): zirconia discs coated by silica using plasma technology. Samples of each group were subdivided into four subgroups according to different analytical techniques. Subgroup (A): (n ¼ 10) subjected to testing of bond strength of zirconia discs to adhesive resin cement after thermo-cycling. Subgroup (B): (n ¼ 5), to evaluate the microscopic changes of zirconia discs by scanning electron microscope (SEM). Subgroup(C): (n ¼ 5) to evaluate the crystal structure and phase transformation of YZ ceramic by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Subgroup (D): (n ¼ 5) to measure three dimensional surface roughness of YZ ceramic by optical interference microscope. Results: Statistical analysis of shear bond strength by ANOVA revealed the presence of no statistically significant difference between group (3) and (4); both showed the statistically significantly highest mean shear bond strength values. Group (2) showed statistically significantly lower mean values followed by group (1). SEM showed that the topographic pattern differed by different surface treatments of samples. XRD revealed that; group (1) showed the statistically significantly highest mean % of zirconium oxide (Tetragonal phase). Group (2) showed the statistically significantly lowest mean % of Zirconium oxide (Tetragonal phase) and highest mean % of Boehmite and Zirconium oxide (Anorthic phase); Group (3) and (4) showed the statistically significantly highest mean % of Zirconium oxide (Monoclinic phase) and low % of zirconium oxide (Tetragonal phase). 3D- optical surface roughness showed that group (3) and (4) had highest mean (Ra) values. Group (2) showed statistically significantly lower mean values. Group (1) showed the statistically significantly lowest mean (Ra) values. Conclusions: (1) Surface treatments of Y-TZP ceramic together with MDP primer and silane-coupling agent application improve the bond strength to resin cement. (2) Plasma-Silica coating and plasmaoxygen treatment, both are valuable methods that improve the bond strength of resin cement to YTZP ceramic. (3) Silica coating by plasma technology provides durable bond strength and can be a promising alternative pretreatment before silane application to enhance bonding with zirconia ceramic. (4) Tetragonal-monoclinic phase transformation had occurred in Y-TZP samples received both types of plasma treatment