Management, Control And Governance Of Hawala Networks In The Gulf Cooperation Council Region

Prior research has focused on the transactional aspects of the Hawala Networks (i.e. Invisible Funds Transfer Networks). However, little is known about the structure of this networked "organisation" especially about its governance and management control systems. Clanbased Organisations and Actor Network Theories were utilised to provide the theoretical base on which a research farmework was built. In total, 20 indepth interviews were conducted with Hawaldars (Hawala service providers) using a semi-structured questionnaire. As the study focused on the Gulf Cooperation Council region, data were collected from Qatar, UAE and Kuwait. The data indicated that there were no formal governance and management control systems in place for managing Hawala Networks (HNets); there were no explicit formal processes and mechanisms for evaluating performance and there was no formal performance measurement and tracking system in place to provide the information about network functionality. Results also showed that trust acted as the most important control mechanism impacting the efciency, effectiveness and the relatively lower transaction costs associated with HNets operation

Pleomorphic lobular carcinoma of the male breast with axillary lymph node involvement: A case report and review of literature

Background: Carcinoma of the male breast is responsible for less than 1% of all malignancies in men but the incidence is rising. Invasive ductal carcinoma is the most common histological subtype while invasive lobular carcinoma is responsible for only 1.5% of the total cases of which pleomorpic lobular carcinoma is an extremely rare variant. We report the case of a gentleman with node positive, pleomorphic lobular carcinoma of the breast.Case Presentation: An elderly gentleman with a past history of type 2 diabetes and long term ethanol use presented to us with a self-discovered palpable lump in the left breast. Physical examination revealed bilateral gynaecomastia along with a well circumscribed subareolar mass and palpable lymphadenopathy in the ipsilateral axilla. The breast nodule revealed atypical cells on fine needle aspiration biopsy and the patient underwent a modified radical mastectomy after systemic surveillance was negative for metastatic disease. The lesion was reported as grade III pleomorphic lobular carcinoma with a lack of E-cadherin expression on immunohistochemistry and the neoplastic cells exhibited strong positivity for estrogen receptor in the absence of Her2 gene amplification. Six out of the eleven dissected regional lymph nodes showed evidence of disease. The patient completed 4cycles of adjuvant chemotherapy without evidence of recurrent disease and was subsequently lost to follow up.Conclusion: Although invasive lobular carcinomas comprise 12% of all female breast cancers, they are very rare in males due to lack of acini and lobules in the normal male breast. Pleomorphic lobular carcinoma, an aggressive variant of ILC is even rarer in males. Chronic consumption of ethanol by our patient may have resulted in some degree of hepatic impairment with resultant hyperestrogenism. This in theory may have been the cause of his gynaecomastia, resultant breast cancer and is a plausible explanation for development of the invasive lobular subtype in a male. The prognosis and clinicopatholocial features of pleomorphic lobular carcinoma in men are less clearly defined due to its rarity. Additional studies are hence necessary to improve our understanding of this disease in males

Management, control and governance of hawala networks in the gulf cooperation council region

Prior research has focused on the transactional aspects of the Hawala Networks (i.e. Invisible Funds Transfer Networks). However, little is known about the structure of this networked "organisation" especially about its governance and management control systems. Clanbased Organisations and Actor Network Theories were utilised to provide the theoretical base on which a research farmework was built. In total, 20 indepth interviews were conducted with Hawaldars (Hawala service providers) using a semi-structured questionnaire. As the study focused on the Gulf Cooperation Council region, data were collected from Qatar, UAE and Kuwait. The data indicated that there were no formal governance and management control systems in place for managing Hawala Networks (HNets); there were no explicit formal processes and mechanisms for evaluating performance and there was no formal performance measurement and tracking system in place to provide the information about network functionality. Results also showed that trust acted as the most important control mechanism impacting the efficiency, effectiveness and the relatively lower transaction costs associated with HNets operations. Asian Academy of Management and Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia, 2016.This report was made possible by a NPRP award (NPRP4-234-5-039) from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of The Qatar Foundation). The statements made herein are solely the responsibility of the authors.Scopu

From Smart Parking Towards Autonomous Valet Parking: A Survey, Challenges and Future Works

Recently, we see an increasing number of vehicles coming into our lives, which makes finding car parks a difficult task. To overcome this challenge, efficient and advanced parking techniques are required, such as finding the proper parking slot, increasing users’ experience, dynamic path planning and congestion avoidance. To this end, this survey provides a detailed overview starting from Smart Parking (SP) towards the emerging Autonomous Valet Parking (AVP) techniques. Specially, the SP includes digitally enhanced parking, smart routing, high density parking and vacant slot detection solutions. Moreover, the AVP involves Short-range Autonomous Valet Parking (SAVP) and Long-range Autonomous Valet Parking (LAVP). Finally, open issues and future work are provided

Effektiviteten hos utforskande testning, En empirisk granskning av de utmaningar och faktorer som påverkar effektiviteten fel upptäckt

Context: Software testing is an integral part of software development life cycle. To improve the quality of software there are different testing approaches practiced over the years. Traditionally software testing is carried out by following approach focusing on prior test design. While exploratory testing is an approach to test software where the tester does not require to follow a specific test design. But rather, exploratory testing should facilitate the tester in testing the complete system comprehensively. Exploratory testing is seen by some, as a way to conduct simultaneous learning, test design and execution of tests simultaneously. While others point to exploratory testing enabling constant evolution of tests in an easy manner. Objectives: In this study we have investigated the field of exploratory testing in literature and industry to understand its perception and application. Further among the stated claims by practitioners, we selected defect detection efficiency and effectiveness claim for empirical validation through an experiment and survey. Methods: In this study, a systematic literature review, interview, experiment and survey are conducted. In the systematic review a number of article sources are used, including IEEE Xplore, ACM Digital Library, Engineering village, Springer Link, Google Scholar and Books database. The systematic review also includes the gray literature published by the practitioners. The selection of studies was done using two-phase and tollgate approach. A total of 47 references were selected as primary studies. Eight semi-structures interviews were conducted with industry practitioners. Experiment had total 4 iterations and 70 subjects. The subjects were selected from industry and academia. The experimental design used was one factor with two interventions and one response variable. Results: Based on our findings from literature review and interviews, the understanding of exploratory testing has improved over the period but still lacks empirical investigation. The results drawn from experimental and survey data shows that exploratory testing proved effective and efficient in finding more critical bugs in limited time. Conclusions: We conclude that exploratory testing has a lot of potential and much more to offer to testing industry. But more empirical investigation and true facts and figures are required to motivate the testing industry to adapt it. We have reported a number of advantages, disadvantages, challenges and factors in this study. We further investigated the claims stated by the ET practitioners through an experiment and survey. The statistical tests were conducted on the collected data to draw meaningful results. We found statistical significance difference in number of true defects found. Using exploratory testing approach testers found far more defects than test case based testing. Although, there was no statistical significance difference between the two approaches for false defects.Slutsatser: Vi anser att det experimentella tester har stor potential och mycket mer att erbjuda testning industrin. Men mer empirisk undersökning och sann fakta och siffror är skyldiga att motivera testning industrin att anpassa den. Vi har rapporterat en rad fördelar, nackdelar, utmaningar och faktorer i denna studie. Vi undersökte vidare fordringar anges av ET utövare genom ett experiment och undersökning. De statistiska test genomfördes på insamlade data för att dra meningsfulla resultat. Vi fann statistisk signifikans skillnaden i antalet sann fel som upptäcks. Använda utforskande testning strategi testare fann långt fler fel än testfall baserat testning. Även om det inte fanns någon statistisk signifikans skillnad mellan de två synsätten för falska defekter.0046 73 651 804

Analyzing informal value transfer networks through the lens of social exchanges

Purpose: This study aims to focus on how informal value transfer networks, Hawala business in particular, used social exchanges in their business dealings. More specifically, the conducted research looked into how social exchange theory was used in Hawala business relationship initiation and management. Design/methodology/approach: Twenty-one depth interviews were conducted with Hawala Network members, and Hawala customers, in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. The collected qualitative data were analyzed through content analysis and NVivo 11 software. Findings: The study outcome indicated that Social Exchange Theory was a principal relationship driver in Hawala Networks. Especially, trust had a pivotal role in evolvement and nurturing of Hawala Network business and social exchanges. Other relationship variables, namely, reciprocity, religious affiliation, reputation and information sharing had a significant part in relationship building as well. Results supported a prominent influence of time in carefully controlled and rigorously assessed transformation of Hawala relationships. This metamorphosis converted an exchange from short-term into a long-term orientation where limited amount transactions changed into large sum transactions and restricted information exchange moved to elaborate information sharing. In addition, findings revealed that monetary and non-monetary interactions between Hawala Network members took the form of a homogeneous club, with shared social, cultural, religious and ethnic values. In particular, financially constrained and illiterate social groups preferred Hawala services due to ease of servicing in the form of minimal bureaucracy, fast transfers and low service charges. These marginalized fractions of society had limited access to formal banking which made Hawala business their main (and in most cases only) source for sending and receiving financial remittances. Hawala Networks provided an effective alternative to formal banking for disadvantaged communities. Originality/value: This study provided unique and useful insights into the nature of social exchanges within Hawala Networks. Especially, it provided clarification on how informal networked businesses used Social Exchange Theory to by-pass the need for legal protection and formal contracts. Furthermore, the study highlighted the role Hawala business played in providing essential banking services (e.g. transfer of money and micro-lending) to educationally and economically deprived individuals.This research project was made possible by NPRP grant # [8–256-5–036] from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of Qatar Foundation)

Tachism: Tri-Port Antenna with Triple Notching Characteristic and High Isolation System for MIMO Application

A novel ultra-wideband (UWB) KAYI-shaped and common KITE-shaped ground plane tri-port antenna is proposed. The proposed research work has a small size of (30 × 30 × 1.6 mm3). The MIMO antenna elements are placed in a KAYI-shaped (Y-shaped) with a symmetric phase shift of 120∘ between the nearby MIMO antennas element improving the isolation. The antenna’s gain is more than 5 dBi for the entire bands of WiMax, WLAN, and X-band satellite communication. The suggested work includes notches at 3.2 GHz, 5.2 GHz, and 8.9 GHz, respectively. The notching characteristics are made possible by L-shaped slits for the WiMax band, the inverted U-shaped slot for WLAN, while the third is created by the interaction between the L-shaped and U-shaped notching elements. Results were measured after making the prototype antenna on the FR-4 substrate. The proposed antenna has good impedance matching for 2–20 GHz and three notching characteristics with high isolation among the MIMO elements. Mean effective gain (MEG), envelope correlation coefficient (ECC), and total active reflection coefficient (TARC) are the diversity metrics of MIMO antennas which are in good comparison to the proposed antenna. The antenna is a good candidate for deployment in wireless communication and MIMO applications

Impact Resistance of Styrene–Butadiene Rubber (SBR) Latex-Modified Fiber-Reinforced Concrete: The Role of Aggregate Size

Improvements in tensile strength and impact resistance of concrete are among the most researched issues in the construction industry. The present study aims to improve the properties of concrete against impact loadings. For this purpose, energy-absorbing materials are used along with fibers that help in controlling the crack opening. A polymer-based energy-absorbing admixture, SBR latex, along with polypropylene fibers are used in this study to improve the impact resistance. Along with fibers and polymers, the effect of the size of aggregates was also investigated. In total, 12 mixes were prepared and tested against the drop weight test and the Charpy impact test. Other than this, mechanical characterization was also carried out for all the 12 concrete mixes. Three dosages of SBR latex, i.e., 0%, 4%, and 8% by weight of cement, were used along with three aggregates sizes, 19 mm down, 10 mm down, and 4.75 mm down. The quantity of polypropylene fibers was kept equal to 0.5% in all mixes. In addition to these, three control samples were also prepared for comparison. The mix design was performed to achieve a normal-strength concrete. For this purpose, a concrete mix of 1:1.5:3 was used with a water to a cement ratio of 0.4 to achieve a normal-strength concrete. The experimental study concluded that the addition of SBR latex improves the impact resistance of concrete. Furthermore, an increase in impact resistance was also observed for a larger aggregate size. The use of fibers and SBR latex is encouraged due to their positive results and the fact that they provide an economical solution for catering to impact strains. The study concludes that 4% SBR latex and 0.5% fibers with a larger aggregate size improve the resistance against impact loads

Effect of Elevated Temperatures on Mortar with Naturally Occurring Volcanic Ash and Its Blend with Electric Arc Furnace Slag

The mechanical behavior of basaltic volcanic ash (VA) and fly ash (FA) as a cement replacement under elevated temperatures is mainly investigated in the current study. For this, cement content has been partially replaced with and without the presence of electric arc furnace slag (S). Four distinct ranges of temperatures (200°C, 400°C, 600°C, and 800°C) were selected, and the modified mixes were subjected to these gradually elevated temperatures. Samples were cured and cooled by using air- and water-cooling techniques. Test results were established by examining the sample weights and compressive strength before and after the exposure of each temperature level. The pozzolanic potential of volcanic ash and fly ash samples was identified using the strength activity index. After analyzing the test results, it has been found that there is a significant effect on the compressive strength of mortar mixes at the early ages of its strength gain. However, at the later ages of curing, samples modified with volcanic and fly ash with the presence of electric arc furnace slag have shown a better performance than control mix in terms of strength and weight loss