Impact of EU-FDI on economic growth in Middle Eastern countries

This paper develops a simultaneous equations model to test the process of interaction between foreign direct investment, exports and economic growth in three Middle Eastern countries: Egypt, Jordan, Oman, and test for any possible feedback effects. Most of the FDI in these countries flows from the EU. The simultaneous equations model results suggest that higher rates of economic growth result in a greater inflow of foreign capital. The regression results also suggest that interest rate differentials exert a much stronger effect than economic growth on the attraction of foreign capital in the case of Egypt. However, this variable does not seem to play a significant role in the case of Oman. Moreover, the simultaneous equations model results suggest that there is a feedback effect in the relationship between economic growth and capital inflow in all sample countries. A greater inflow of foreign capital leads to growth in the exports of good and services. The expansion in exports leads to growth in GNP, which in turn, encourages the attraction of more foreign capital.peer-reviewe

Supervised exercise training and increased physical activity to reduce cardiovascular disease risk in women with polycystic ovary syndrome: Study protocol for a randomized controlled feasibility trial

Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) affects up to 20% of women and is characterised by higher amounts of visceral fat, obesity, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia and reproductive and cardiometabolic complications. Increased oxidised low-density lipoprotein (LDL) concentrations have been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD)-related events. Oxidised LDL is rarely used as a marker for CVD risk in PCOS-related studies despite its widely accepted role in atherogenesis and the increased risk factors associated with PCOS. Additionally, prolonged periods of sedentary behaviour can negatively affect metabolic health. No studies have specifically examined the effects of reducing sedentary behaviour on CVD risk in PCOS with a lifestyle physical activity intervention. The aim of the current study is to measure the feasibility of a randomised controlled trial (RCT) examining the effects of supervised exercise and reducing sedentary behaviour in women with PCOS on CVD risk. Methods/design: A feasibility, exploratory RCT will be conducted. Fifty-one pre-menopausal females will be randomly allocated between an exercise group (EG), a lifestyle physical activity group (LPAG) and a control group. Participants in the EG will undertake a 12-week supervised aerobic exercise programme. The LPAG will aim to increase daily physical activity and reduce sedentary behaviour for 12 weeks. The control group will not take part in any intervention. Primary outcomes are feasibility and acceptability of the intervention and procedures. Secondary outcomes are oxidised LDL, aerobic fitness, blood lipid profile, fasting glucose and insulin, testosterone and inflammatory markers. Discussion: PCOS is associated with various increased risk factors for CVD, including hypertension, dyslipidemia, abdominal obesity, insulin resistance, and inflammation. Whether oxidised LDL has a role in this increased risk is not yet known. The present study aims to measure the feasibility of implementing structured exercise training and/or increased lifestyle physical activity in women with PCOS, so that a subsequent adequately powered RCT can be designed. The results from the study will be used to refine the interventions and determine the acceptability of the study design. A limitation is that some self-monitoring in the lifestyle physical activity group may not be reliable or replicable, for example inputting information about time spent cleaning/gardening

Attitudes of Private Firms in GCC Countries Towards Employing Indian Nationals: A Case Study

This paper tries to find out how private firms engaged in different economic activities in GCC countries differ in terms of their preference ratings of various attributes of Indian employees

Synthesis and SomeReactions of 3-Methyl-4-aryl-1-phenyl-1H- pyrazolo[3,4-dipyrimidine-6-thiols

3-Methyl-4-aryl-1-phenyl-1H -pyrazolo[3,4-d]-pyrimidine-6-thiols( 11)were synthesised by the raction of thiourea with 3-methyl-\u27 -1-phenyl-4-arylidene-2-pyrazolin-5-ones(1) in ethanolic solution of potassium hydroxide. The mechanism of this reaction is discussed and further transformation of the products with different reagents (S-methylation, substitution of SR-group by arylamines, hydrazine, and azide) was carried out

Controlling the quantum computational speed

The speed of quantum computation is investigated through the time evolution of the speed of the orthogonality. The external field components for classical treatment beside the detuning and the coupling parameters for quantum treatment play important roles on the computational speed. It has been shown that the number of photons has no significant effect on the speed of computation. However, it is very sensitive to the variation in both detuning and the interaction coupling parameters.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figure