The Godly Sheikh Khaleel Bin Muhammed Al-Fayadh: His Educational Efforts in Social Reform

Since its founding, Fallujah has been marked by virtue and generosity. It was possesses a brilliant history and is widely known for its great contribution to education, such as the Asfiya school. This school is a vital cornerstone in the construction and propagation of the nation’s religion. The School alumni can be found throughout much of the globe. They are admitted to Al-Azhar without need for curricular clearance. This school has adopted a scientific educational approach, unmatched among today's schools, which has made it a permanent and continued success. Despite the small size of the student body, Al-Asifiya students are of exceptional quality. This conference is organized to revive the glorious history of the land of Mesopotamia from the district of Fallujah. The intellectual wheel in Fallujah has remained a resilient one. Whenever a setback happens to the intellectual and civic life, it is followed by a stronger regenerative movement, and a scientific renaissance that dust itself off and renew its glory. One of the best examples of this is the reopening of the Al-Asifia School, led by an excellent staff of outstanding teachers. One of these is the pious Khaleel Bin Muhammed Bin Abdullah Al-Fayadh, well-known for his good morals, easygoing character, educational experience and wisdom in Islam advocacy and Guiding. He led a celebrated life in Al-Asifiyah with its leading guardian Sheikh Abdulazeez Al-Samarrai, the knowledge agent in Anbar Province. Sheikh Fayadh is the Sheikh of Al-Asifiyah, he learnt from Sheikh Abdulazeez a variety of religious, narrated, and mental studies. He was licensed and publicly authorized to take over the administration of the school following Al-Samarrai. Al-Fayadh obtained the respect and a lofty position among the Fallujan community. Keywords: Scientist, community reform, educational efforts, Sheikh Khalil, Mohammed Faya

Hydration Characteristics of Limestone Filled Cement Pastes

The physico-mechanical properties of hardened limestone-filled cement pastes were studied. Five filled-cements were prepared from 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 wt. % of limestone and OPC. The water of consistency of filled-cement pastes was 0.275, 0.275, 0.275, 0.272, and 0.270, respectively. The pastes are moulded into one inch cubic moulds and left within the moulds at 100% relative humidity for 24 h, then demoulded and cured under tap water for 3, 7, 28, and 90 days. At each hydration time, the combined water, bulk density, total porosity and compressive strength of the hardened filled-cement pastes were determined. Some selected filled-cement pastes were investigated using differential thermal analysis (DTA) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) Techniques. Addition of limestone to Portland cement causes an increase of hydration at early ages inducing a high early strength, but it can reduce the later strength due to the dilution effect. The results indicate that the addition of limestone up to 5 wt. % improves the physico-mechanical properties of ordinary Portland cement which acts as a nucleating agent and accelerates the hydration of filled cement pastes. The addition of 5 wt. % limestone can be used in the production of portland cement according to the international specifications. On the other side, the addition of 10-20 wt. % limestone can be used in the production of blended or mixed cements

Validation of the Arabic version of the Social Communication Questionnaire

Validated screening and diagnostic tools for autism spectrum disorder for use in Arabic-speaking individuals are scarce. This study validated the Arabic version of the Social Communication Questionnaire. The total study sample included 206 children with autism spectrum disorder and 206 typically developing children (73.8% male; mean age: 8.5 (standard deviation = 2.6) years). The mean Social Communication Questionnaire total score was significantly higher in autism spectrum disorder children than in typically developing children (p < 0.0001). Scores on the three Social Communication Questionnaire subscales also differed significantly between the groups (p < 0.001). Of the 39 items, 37 were endorsed significantly more often in the autism spectrum disorder group. The total Social Communication Questionnaire score did not vary by age or gender. Internal consistency was excellent (alpha = 0.92). In the receiver operating characteristic analysis, the area under the curve for the total score showed excellent discrimination between autism spectrum disorder and typically developing children (area under the curve = 0.95; 95% confidence interval: 0.93–0.97). The areas under the curve for the scale subscores were 0.923 (95% confidence interval: 0.898–0.949) for the social interaction score, 0.872 (95% confidence interval: 0.838–0.905) for the communication score, and 0.856 (95% confidence interval: 0.819–0.893) for the repetitive behaviors score. The findings support the use of the Arabic Social Communication Questionnaire to successfully differentiate children with clinically diagnosed autism spectrum disorder using the established cutoff value for the English version.The authors would like to thank all the staff of the autism centers and schools who contributed in distributing and collecting the SCQ forms. They also would like to thank Western Psychological Services (WPS) staff for their help during the process of translating and reviewing the Arabic SCQ. They acknowledge Jennifer Holmes, ELS, for medical editing. The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The study was funded by the Qatar National Research Fund (NPRP 6-093-3-024)

Biomarkers in Spinal Cord Injury: Prognostic Insights and Future Potentials

Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) is a major challenge in Neurotrauma research. Complex pathophysiological processes take place immediately after the injury and later on as the chronic injury develops. Moreover, SCI is usually accompanied by traumatic injuries because the most common modality of injury is road traffic accidents and falls. Patients develop significant permanent neurological deficits that depend on the extent and the location of the injury itself and in time they develop further neurological and body changes that may risk their mere survival. In our review, we explored the recent updates with regards to SCI biomarkers. We observed two methods that may lead to the appearance of biomarkers for SCI. First, during the first few weeks following the injury the Blood Spinal Cord Barrier (BSCB) disruption that releases several neurologic structure components from the injured tissue. These components find their way to Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) and the systemic circulation. Also, as the injury develops several components of the pathological process are expressed or released such as in neuroinflammation, apoptosis, reactive oxygen species, and excitotoxicity sequences. Therefore, there is a growing interest in examining any correlations between these components and the degrees or the outcomes of the injury. Additionally, some of the candidate biomarkers are theorized to track the progressive changes of SCI which offers an insight on the patients' prognoses, potential-treatments-outcomes assessment, and monitoring the progression of the complications of chronic SCI such as Pressure Ulcers and urinary dysfunction. An extensive literature review was performed covering literature, published in English, until February 2018 using the Medline/PubMed database. Experimental and human studies were included and titles, PMID, publication year, authors, biomarkers studies, the method of validation, relationship to SCI pathophysiology, and concluded correlation were reported. Potential SCI biomarkers need further validation using clinical studies. The selection of the appropriate biomarker group should be made based on the stage of the injuries, the accompanying trauma and with regards to any surgical, or medical interference that might have been done. Additionally, we suggest testing multiple biomarkers related to the several pathological changes coinciding to offer a more precise prediction of the outcome

Desalination and the commons: tragedy or triumph?

A policy is more likely to be economically efficient when its costs and benefits fall on the same group, but politicians can allocate costs and benefits to different groups within their jurisdictional commons. This article examines the distribution of costs and benefits from desalination projects using examples from San Diego, Almeria and Riyadh. The examples illustrate how mismatches between costs and benefits can persist or change as politicians adjust the policy portfolio to balance inefficiency and political risk.Global Challenges (FGGA

Coronary computed tomography angiography for heart team decision-making in multivessel coronary artery disease

Aims Coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA) has emerged as a non-invasive diagnostic method for patients with suspected coronary artery disease, but its usefulness in patients with complex coronary artery disease remains to be investigated. The present study sought to determine the agreement between separate heart teams on treatment decision-making based on either coronary CTA or conventional angiography. Methods and results Separate heart teams composed of an interventional cardiologist, a cardiac surgeon, and a radiologist were randomized to assess the coronary artery disease with either coronary CTA or conventional angiography in patients with de novo left main or three-vessel coronary artery disease. Each heart team, blinded for the other imaging modality, quantified the anatomical complexity using the SYNTAX score and integrated clinical information using the SYNTAX Score II to provide a treatment recommendations based on mortality prediction at 4 years: coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), or equipoise between CABG and PCI. The primary endpoint was the agreement between heart teams on the revascularization strategy. The secondary endpoint was the impact of fractional flow reserve derived from coronary CTA (FFRCT) on treatment decision and procedural planning. Overall, 223 patients were included. A treatment recommendation of CABG was made in 28% of the cases with coronary CTA and in 26% with conventional angiography. The agreement concerning treatment decision between coronary CTA and conventional angiography was high (Cohen's kappa 0.82, 95% confidence interval 0.74-0.91). The heart teams agreed on the coronary segments to be revascularized in 80% of the cases. FFRCT was available for 869/1108 lesions (196/223 patients). Fractional flow reserve derived from coronary CTA changed the treatment decision in 7% of the patients. Conclusion In patients with left main or three-vessel coronary artery disease, a heart team treatment decision-making based on coronary CTA showed high agreement with the decision derived from conventional coronary angiography suggesting the potential feasibility of a treatment decision-making and planning based solely on this non-invasive imaging modality and clinical information

Decision-making processes of public sector accounting reforms in India—Institutional perspectives

While International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) convergence has been the face of the global accounting standardisation movement for the past few decades, accounting reforms in the public sector had started to gain momentum from the late 1990s. This paper examines the reasons for the adoption of public sector accrual accounting reforms in India. It explores the various sources of pressure influencing these reforms and the ways in which these pressures are balanced and addressed by key decisionmakers in the national and transnational contexts of an emerging economy like India. This study finds that demands for greater accountability from the public in the national context (demand pressures) as well as requests for greater transparency from international financial institutions in the transnational context (supply pressures) are two major sources of pressure that are balanced by the state in its quest for greater legitimacy. This is demonstrated through a triggering event such as political scandals evoking responses from the government to reinforce its weakened legitimacy by adopting public sector accounting reforms. Extant literature on public sector accounting reforms, mostly focuses on the phases where the standards are being actually implemented by the country. Studies exploring decision-making processes that lead to actual implementation of accrual accounting reforms are limited. This study contributes to existing literature by examining the decision-making process that ensues before the actual use of international standards in public sector accounting reforms and demonstrates the significant role that institutional influences play in defining such decision-making processes. The role of these institutional influences also draw attention to the probable disparities between rationales and actual reasons for government accounting reforms undertaken by developing countries

Crise de abastecimento de água em São Paulo e falta de planejamento estratégico

Embora a crise no abastecimento de água na Região Metropolitana de São Paulo (RMSP) tenha se manifestado de maneira mais intensa no verão de 2013-2014, ela revela um problema crônico que vem afetando toda a Região nos últimos dez anos. Esse problema foi gerado pela falta de um planejamento estratégico que considere questões climatológicas que podem indicar, com meses de antecedência, problemas de recomposição dos níveis dos mananciais, permitindo que ações sejam empreendidas com razoável antecedência, reduzindo os impactos para a população. Este estudo mostra como é possível utilizar informações climáticas na gestão estratégica do sistema de abastecimento da RMSP.Though the crisis in the water supplying system in the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo (RMSP) was more intensively felt in the 2013-2014 summer, it reveals a chronic problem that has been affecting the whole RMSP for the past ten years. This problem is originated from the lack of a strategic planning that takes into consideration climate issues that could, months before, foresee problems to restore the levels of water resources, allowing measures to be implemented within a reasonable anticipation, therefore reducing the impacts on the population. This study shows how it is possible to use climate information in the strategic management of the water supply in the RMSP

Wyznaczenie stref agro-klimatycznych w Egipcie na podstawie ewapotranspiracji obliczeniowej

The objective of this paper was to compare between agro-climatic zones developed from 10-year interval of weather data from 2005–2014, 20-year interval of weather data from 1995–2014 and the zoning developed by [NORELDIN et al. 2016] using 30-year interval from 1985–2014 in the old cultivated land of Egypt in the Nile Delta and Valley. Monthly means of weather data were calculated for each year, and then monthly values for 10-year and 20-years were calculated for each governorate. Basic Irrigation scheduling model (BISm) was used to calculate reference evapotranspiration (ETo). Analysis of variance was used and the means was separated and ranked using least significant difference test (LSD0.05). Our results showed that agro-climatic zoning using 20-year values of ETo was similar to the zones developed with 30-year values of ETo, with different values of average ETo in each zone. Furthermore, using 10-year values of ETo resulted in higher values of ETo in each zone, compared to 20-year and 30-year ETo values. However, the average value of ETo over the three classifications was close to each other. Thus, depending on the availability of weather data, either zoning can be sufficient to develop agro-climatic zones.Celem pracy było porównanie agro-klimatycznych stref wyznaczonych na podstawie dziesięcioletnich danych pogodowych z lat 2005–2014, dwudziestoletnich danych pogodowych z lat 1995–2014 i stref wyznaczonych przez NORELDINA i in. (2016) z trzydziestoletniego przedziału danych z lat 1985–2014 odnoszących się do terenów uprawnych w delcie i dolinie Nilu (Egipt). Dla każdego roku obliczono miesięczne średnie danych pogodowych, a następnie miesięczne wartości w 10- i 20-letnich przedziałach czasowych dla każdego gubernatorstwa. Wykorzystano model harmonogramu podstawowych nawodnień (BISm) do obliczenia ewapotranspiracji obliczeniowej (ETo). Użyto analizy wariancji, a różnice średnich określano za pomocą testu najmniejszej istotnej różnicy na poziomie p < 0,05. Uzyskane wyniki wskazują, że strefy agro-klimatyczne ustalone według dwudziestoletnich danych ETo były podobne do stref określonych na podstawie trzydziestoletnich danych ETo (różne średnie wartości ETo w każdej strefie). Wykorzystanie dziesięcioletnich danych ETo dało w efekcie wyższe wartości ETo w każdej strefie w porównaniu z uzyskanymi na podstawie dwudziesto- i trzydziestoletnich danych. Średnie wartości ETo w trzech systemach klasyfikacji były jednak zbliżone do siebie. Dlatego, w zależności od dostępności danych pogodowych, każdy ze sposobów ustalania stref będzie wystarczający, by wyznaczyć strefy agro-klimatyczne