Economic Diversification Trends in the Gulf: the Case of Saudi Arabia

A national economy which is dependent on income from just one source is vulnerable, especially when that income comes from non-renewable resources. The sustainable prosperity of an economy thus relies on the successful implementation of economic diversification. Diversification is key to creating an attractive, flourishing environment in a country and improving the quality of its institutions and its citizens' lives. The countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are accelerating their efforts to achieve economic diversification, with their national visions reflecting a shared aim of securing permanent high standards of living for future generations. After the first boom in oil prices in 1970, Saudi Arabia's government introduced primary development plans to diversify its economy. In 2016, it announced its 2030 vision to establish sustainable growth through economic diversification. The economic diversification strategy of Saudi Arabia is founded on several pillars, including investment in human capital and education and investment in non-oil sectors such as tourism. This paper aims to analyze the economic diversification trends in the GCC region with a special focus on Saudi Arabia as a case study. Within this wider context, the paper will concentrate on Saudi Arabia's efforts to achieve diversification by building a knowledge-based economy. Focusing on the quality of education and research improves the human capital available in the country which contributes to the growth of the economy. Results reveal that although Saudi Arabia has embarked on its diversification plans, the current status of oil prices, the deficit in the Saudi general budget, and the country's traditional educational system will hinder and slow this process.Scopu

Effects of space charge on the mass purification in Penning traps

The influence of space charge on the mass selection of ions stored in a Penning trap was investigated with the ISOLTRAP experiment at CERN/ISOLDE. A mixture of 85,87Rb +  ions has been used to probe the change of the experimental parameters, e.g. frequencies and amplitudes of the radiofrequency excitations, as a function of the number of ions present in the tra

The 2022 World Cup and the Post-Colonial Narrative Examined

This paper seeks to examine the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and the Post-Colonial narratives associated with Qatar's attempt at identifying itself out of the frame of modernity set by the West. Sports diplomacy is the device that Qatar is utilizing to delineate issues of post-colonial narratives induced by Orientalism and from the stereotypes influenced by the West about the Muslim world. The essence of Orientalism is based on the apparent dichotomy between the Western sphere and the Eastern sphere (Kolluoghu-Kirli, 2003). The first realm is depicted as superior, while the other is portrayed as inferior. This paper explores through the lens of Post-Colonialism Qatar and its recent run of hosting international sporting events mainly dominated by the West (Al-Naimi et al.,2018). An example of these championships is the 2022 World Cup. In 2010, FIFA awarded Qatar the bid to host the 2022 World Cup (Al-Naimi et al.,2018). Hence, the paper will elaborate on the views and perceptions of the colonizer and the colonized from the aforementioned perspectives. The post-colonial perspective signifies how the colonized communities construct their "self" in juxtaposition to the "other" imposed by the colonizer (Amara, 2011). This paper sets a unique narrative as it provides a dialectic about carving national identity through Sports diplomacy. Qatar, in recent years, has been aiming to show its distinctiveness from countries (GCC countries) with which it shares religious, social, historical, and linguistic aspects. Moreover, Qatar is endeavoring to reframe the post-colonial narrative. Alarabi emphasizes the dense connection between post-colonialism and orientalism (Al-Naimi et al.,2018). This relationship influenced the narrated division between the West (colonizer ) and the Muslims' world (colonized) relationship between the colonizer (more modern, dominating, and civilized West) and the colonized territory (less civilized, conventional, and dominated East). An attempt is made to understand how Qatar has been trying to propel cultural diplomacy as a facet of the aforementioned via the soft power approaches. The paper identifies how Football as a sport is used to understand the historical narrative. This is achieved by focusing on language. Language is examined for its function as an influential device where it juxtaposes the other and analyzes what the 'other' deliberate and deciphers about the self. Moreover, it understands what the West cogitates of the East's "Non-Western," Muslim perceptions and the emerging interactions. The paper analyzes literature, specifically from foreign media of British origins and their coverage of Qatar and the upcoming major sporting tournament, to gain an insight into the post-colonial and orientalist narratives. The investigation functioned as a counter-narrative and defiance in contradiction of the dialectal coercion employed in the British Media (the Guardian and the Sun) that indicates the interpretation of Qatar solely as a

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Hawaii, 2000–2002

Annual trends showed a significant increase in the proportion of MRSA among adult but not among pediatric patients

The Global Forest Transition as a Human Affair

Peer reviewe

Analysing trajectories of a longitudinal exposure: A causal perspective on common methods in lifecourse research

Longitudinal data is commonly analysed to inform prevention policies for diseases that may develop throughout life. Commonly methods interpret the longitudinal data as a series of discrete measurements or as continuous patterns. Some of the latter methods condition on the outcome, aiming to capture ‘average’ patterns within outcome groups, while others capture individual-level pattern features before relating these to the outcome. Conditioning on the outcome may prevent meaningful interpretation. Repeated measurements of a longitudinal exposure (weight) and later outcome (glycated haemoglobin levels) were simulated to match three scenarios: one with no causal relationship between growth rate and glycated haemoglobin; two with a positive causal effect of growth rate on glycated haemoglobin. Two methods that condition on the outcome and one that did not were applied to the data in 1000 simulations. The interpretation of the two-step method matched the simulation in all causal scenarios, but that of the methods conditioning on the outcome did not. Methods that condition on the outcome do not accurately represent a causal relationship between a longitudinal pattern and outcome. Researchers considering longitudinal data should carefully determine if they wish to analyse longitudinal data as a series of discrete time points or by extracting pattern features

Sex Determination:Why So Many Ways of Doing It?

Sexual reproduction is an ancient feature of life on earth, and the familiar X and Y chromosomes in humans and other model species have led to the impression that sex determination mechanisms are old and conserved. In fact, males and females are determined by diverse mechanisms that evolve rapidly in many taxa. Yet this diversity in primary sex-determining signals is coupled with conserved molecular pathways that trigger male or female development. Conflicting selection on different parts of the genome and on the two sexes may drive many of these transitions, but few systems with rapid turnover of sex determination mechanisms have been rigorously studied. Here we survey our current understanding of how and why sex determination evolves in animals and plants and identify important gaps in our knowledge that present exciting research opportunities to characterize the evolutionary forces and molecular pathways underlying the evolution of sex determination

Onsets of nuclear deformation from measurements with the Isoltrap mass spectrometer

Mass measurements provide important information concerning nuclear structure. This work presents results from the pioneering Penning trap spectrometer ISOLTRAP at CERN-ISOLDE. High-precision mass measurements of neutron-rich manganese ($^{58−66}$Mn) and krypton isotopes ($^{96,97}$Kr) are presented, of which the $^{66}$Mn and $^{96,97}$Kr masses are measured for the first time. In particular, the mass of $^{97}$Kr was measured using the preparation trap and required the definition of a new fit function. In the case of the manganese isotopes, the N = 40 shell closure is addressed. The two-neutron-separation energies calculated from the new masses show no shell closure at N = 40 but give an estimation of the proton-neutron interaction (around 0.5 MeV) responsible for the increase of collectivity and nuclear deformation in this mass region. The new krypton masses show behavior in sharp contrast with heavier neighbors where sudden and intense deformation is present, interpreted as the establishment of a nuclear quantum shape/phase transition critical-point boundary. The new masses confirm findings from nuclear mean-square charge-radius measurements up to N = 60 but are at variance with conclusions from recent $\gamma$-ray spectroscopy. Another part of this work was the design of new decay spectroscopy system behind the ISOLTRAP mass spectrometer. The beam purity achievable with ISOLTRAP will allow decay studies with and detection coupled to a tape-station. This system has been mounted and commissioned with the radioactive beam $^{80}$Rb

Onsets of nuclear deformation from measurments with the ISOLTRAP mass spectrometer

Mass measurements provide important information concerning nuclear structure. This work presents results from the pioneering Penning trap spectrometer Isoltrap at CERN-ISOLDE. High-precision mass measurements of neutron-rich manganese (58−66Mn) and krypton isotopes (96,97Kr) are presented, of which the 66Mn and 96,97Kr masses are measured for the first time. In particular, the mass of 97Kr was measured using the preparation trap and required the definition of a new fit function. In the case of the manganese isotopes, the N = 40 shell closure is addressed. The two-neutron-separation energies calculated from the new masses show no shell closure at N = 40 but give an estimation of the proton-neutron interaction (around 0.5 MeV) responsible for the increase of collectivity and nuclear deformation in this mass region. The new krypton masses show behavior in sharp contrast with heavier neighbors where sudden and intense deformation is present, interpreted as the establishment of a nuclear quantum shape/phase transition critical-point boundary. The new masses confirm findings from nuclear mean-square charge-radius measurements up to N = 60 but are at variance with conclusions from recent gamma-ray spectroscopy. Another part of this work was the design of new decay spectroscopy system behind the Isoltrap mass spectrometer. The beam purity achievable with Isoltrap will allow decay studies with and detection coupled to a tape-station. This system has been mounted and commissioned with the radioactive beam 80Rb

Onsets of nuclear deformation from measurments with the ISOLTRAP mass spectrometer

Mass measurements provide important information concerning nuclear structure. This work presents results from the pioneering Penning trap spectrometer Isoltrap at CERN-ISOLDE. High-precision mass measurements of neutron-rich manganese (58−66Mn) and krypton isotopes (96,97Kr) are presented, of which the 66Mn and 96,97Kr masses are measured for the first time. In particular, the mass of 97Kr was measured using the preparation trap and required the definition of a new fit function. In the case of the manganese isotopes, the N = 40 shell closure is addressed. The two-neutron-separation energies calculated from the new masses show no shell closure at N = 40 but give an estimation of the proton-neutron interaction (around 0.5 MeV) responsible for the increase of collectivity and nuclear deformation in this mass region. The new krypton masses show behavior in sharp contrast with heavier neighbors where sudden and intense deformation is present, interpreted as the establishment of a nuclear quantum shape/phase transition critical-point boundary. The new masses confirm findings from nuclear mean-square charge-radius measurements up to N = 60 but are at variance with conclusions from recent gamma-ray spectroscopy. Another part of this work was the design of new decay spectroscopy system behind the Isoltrap mass spectrometer. The beam purity achievable with Isoltrap will allow decay studies with and detection coupled to a tape-station. This system has been mounted and commissioned with the radioactive beam 80Rb