Islamic Banking Performance in the Middle East: A Case Study of Jordan

Islamic banking in Jordan started around two decades ago. Since then it has played an important role in financing and contributing to different economics and social sectors in the country in compliance with the principles of Shariah rules in Islamic banking practices. Since there have been limited studies on the financial performance of Islamic banks in the country. The aim of this paper is to examine and analyse the Jordanian experience with Islamic banking, and in particular the experience for the first and second Islamic bank in the country, Jordan Islamic Bank for Finance and Investment (JIBFI), and Islamic International Arab Bank (IIAB) in order to evaluate the Islamic banks’ performance in the county. The paper goes further to shed some light on the domestic as well as global challenges, which are facing this sector. However, this paper used the performance evaluation methodology by conducting the profit maximization, capital structure, and liquidity tests. This paper found that the efficiency and ability of both banks has increased and both have expanded their investment and activities and had played an important role in financing projects in Jordan. Another interesting finding of the paper that these banks have focused on the short-term investment, perhaps this seems to be the case in most Islamic banking practices. Another finding is that the Bank for Finance and Investment (JIBFI) has a high profitability that encourages other banks to practice the Islamic financial system. The paper also found that Islamic banks have a high growth in the credit facilities and in profitability.Islamic banking, Performance, Efficiency, Challenges, Jordan

Production Optimization by Nodal Analysis

As gas field development is a costly business, it is important to ensure that each component in the production system (from the dwonhole completion all the way to the separator) is functioning to its best utilization. The goal of field optimization is to establish the ranges of operating parameters that will ensure then and help achieving the operator’s objective, such as maximizing the production rate of the entire field. This rate is sustainable for the conditions established by the system components (tubing, pipeline, choke, etc.), reservoir pressure, and separator pressure. Nodal Analysis provides a sound method to aid the decision making process for optimization. This project presents the results of a study conducted on the ‘X’ gas field which is producing with two wells. First step was optimizing tubing size for each well. Then a field wide network model was constructed to include the wells and surface facilities. Predictive simulation was run at the network, considering three cases. There are: i) base case, ii) installing surface compressor, iii) drilling a new well. The comparative analysis shows that case 3 is the optimum production strategy for the ‘X’ gas field which provide an increment by around 14% in gas recovery, compared to the base case

Phenolic Content and Antioxidant, Antibacterial Activities of Ethanolic Extract From Lemon Balm and Oregano Plants

The antioxidant and antibacterial activities of ethanolic extract and phenolic compounds extract of Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) and Oregano (Oreganum vulgare) plants were studied; the phenolic content and the relationship between these compounds and the above activities were also investigated. The results showed that the Lemon balm had the highest phenolic content (56.5% mg g) and the phenolic content of Oregano was twice lower than Lemon balm. Lemon balm has the highest antioxidant activity which causes lipid peroxidation inhibition activity of linoleic acid (90.5%), this activity was more than ?-tocopherole antioxidant activity (79.3 %). It was found that the main source of antioxidant activity of these plants was belonging to phenolic compounds and the results proved the strong relationship between antioxidant activity and phenolic content. The ethanolic extract of Lemon balm was exhibited strong antibacterial activity ,the inhibition included all bacterial isolates , with highest inhibition zone against Bacillus cereus ( 26 mm), while Oregano did not exhibit clear antibacterial activity, Aeromonas hydrophila was the most resistant isolate . It was obvious from the results of effect of phenolic compounds on bacteria that no relationship between antibacterial activity and phenolic content and the inhibition may be due to other compounds

The effectiveness of using blog innovation on 6th Grade EFL students' learning students' vocabulary and motivation to explain English text in Jordan

This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of using blog innovation on 6th Grade EFL students' learning vocabulary and motivation to explain English text in Jordan. The study sample consisted of 50 students from the sixth grade students in basic schools in the District of north-eastern desert In Jordan. Research experimental method was used for the appropriateness of the nature and objectives of the study which was divided into two groups. Whereas the results of the study emphasize that blog innovation help the students increase their level of vocabulary learning and also proves that implementing blog innovation materials in EFL speaking class improved the students’ attitudes towards language learning. The study revealed that using blog Innovation is very important in learning English language because it can help students to be more fluent. The study was able to project various recommendations for teacher, students as well as staff of Ministry of Education. Keywords: Blog innovation, EFL, learning vocabulary, EFL learners, English text

A new and general formulation of the parametric HFGMC micromechanical method for two and three-dimensional multi-phase composites

AbstractThe recent two-dimensional (2D) parametric formulation of the high fidelity generalized method of cells (HFGMC) reported by the authors is generalized for the micromechanical analysis of three-dimensional (3D) multiphase composites with periodic microstructure. Arbitrary hexahedral subcell geometry is developed to discretize a triply periodic repeating unit-cell (RUC). Linear parametric-geometric mapping is employed to transform the arbitrary hexahedral subcell shapes from the physical space to an auxiliary orthogonal shape, where a complete quadratic displacement expansion is performed. Previously in the 2D case, additional three equations are needed in the form of average moments of equilibrium as a result of the inclusion of the bilinear terms. However, the present 3D parametric HFGMC formulation eliminates the need for such additional equations. This is achieved by expressing the coefficients of the full quadratic polynomial expansion of the subcell in terms of the side or face average-displacement vectors. The 2D parametric and orthogonal HFGMC are special cases of the present 3D formulation. The continuity of displacements and tractions, as well as the equilibrium equations, are imposed in the average (integral) sense as in the original HFGMC formulation. Each of the six sides (faces) of a subcell has an independent average displacement micro-variable vector which forms an energy-conjugate pair with the transformed average-traction vector. This allows generating symmetric stiffness matrices along with internal resisting vectors for the subcells which enhances the computational efficiency. The established new parametric 3D HFGMC equations are formulated and solution implementations are addressed. Several applications for triply periodic 3D composites are presented to demonstrate the general capability and varsity of the present parametric HFGMC method for refined micromechanical analysis by generating the spatial distributions of local stress fields. These applications include triply periodic composites with inclusions in the form of a cavity, spherical inclusion, ellipsoidal inclusion, and discontinuous aligned short fiber. A 3D repeating unit-cell for foam material composite is simulated

Nonlinear micromechanical formulation of the high fidelity generalized method of cells

AbstractThe recent High Fidelity Generalized Method of Cells (HFGMC) micromechnical modeling framework of multiphase composites is formulated in a new form which facilitates its computational efficiency that allows an effective multiscale material–structural analysis. Towards this goal, incremental and total formulations of the governing equations are derived. A new stress update computational method is established to solve for the nonlinear material constituents along with the micromechanical equations. The method is well-suited for multiaxial finite increments of applied average stress or strain fields. Explicit matrix form of the HFGMC model is presented which allows an immediate and convenient computer implementation of the offered method. In particular, the offered derivations provide for the residual field vector (error) in its incremental and total forms along with an explicit expression for the Jacobian matrix. This enables the efficient iterative computational implementation of the HFGMC as a stand alone. Furthermore, the new formulation of the HFGMC is used to generate a nested local-global nonlinear finite element analysis of composite materials and structures. Applications are presented to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed approach. These include the behavior of multiphase composites with nonlinearly elastic, elastoplastic and viscoplastic constituents

Thermoelastic stress analysis for detecting wrinkles and associated resin pockets in polymer composites

A thermos elastic stress analysis method is proposed consisting of an array of infrared measurement sensors used for evaluation the wrinkling defects and associated resin pockets in a fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composite structure. Wrinkling or fiber waviness defects results when out of plane distortions occur in some or all of the composite layers of the laminate. The wrinkles result in significant reductions of mechanical properties in the composite structure. The method involves instrumentation and device for application of internal energy in the material such as transient or cyclic mechanical excitations. These external excitations are induced in a prescribed or measurable cyclic or transient function of time. Infrared measurements from the surface of the composite are synchronized with the applied excitation energy. The results are used to provide for a map detailing the inner wrinkle defects and associated resin pockets in the laminated composite structure

SENSITIVITY OF COMMERCIAL ANTIBIOTICS TO PATHOGENIC BACTERIA

The sensitivity of human pathogens to some antibiotics used to treat infections and infections caused by these species in humans was tested. The sensitivity of human pathogens to some antibiotics used to treat infections and infections caused by these species in humans was tested. In this study, some pathogenic bacterial isolates, some Gram-negative and Gram-positive, were used. And that from different pathological samples (urine, wound secretions and ear secretions). Obtained from the laboratory of Tishreen University Hospital at Tishreen University in Lattakia Governorate. The sensitivity of pathogenic bacterial isolates to a number of antibiotics was tested using the disk diffusion method. The sensitivity of bacteria was determined by measuring the diameter of the inhibition halos, and its resistance to antibiotics was determined based on the measurement of the diameter of the inhibition zone. The results showed that S. aureus Sensitive only to (SXT) Trimethoprime-Sulfamethoxazole, (VA) Vancomycin, (CN) Gentamycin, and Streptococcus S. faecalis showed sensitivity only to (VA) Vancomycin, (CRO) Ceftriaxone, (AK) Amikacin, (SXT) (rimethoprime-sulfamethoxazole, As for the common P. vulgaris, it was only sensitive to each of the antibiotics (VA) Vancomycin, (AK) Amikacin and (CX) Cloxacillin. And E. coli was allergic only to Trimethoprime-Sulfamethoxa (SXT), (CN)Gentamycin, (LEV) Levofloxacin (SXT) and Amikacin (AK) And if the blue pus bacillus, all strains of P. aeruginosa showed sensitivity only to each of the antibiotics, namely (AK) Amikacin, (CIP) Ciprofloxacin K. pneumoniae showed sensitivity to (VA) Vancomycin, (AK) Amikacin, (LEV) Levofloxacin, (CXm) Cefuroxime, (CRO) Ceftriaxone

A New and General Formulation of the Parametric HFGMC Micromechanical Method for Three-Dimensional Multi-Phase Composites

The recent two-dimensional (2-D) parametric formulation of the high fidelity generalized method of cells (HFGMC) reported by the authors is generalized for the micromechanical analysis of three-dimensional (3-D) multiphase composites with periodic microstructure. Arbitrary hexahedral subcell geometry is developed to discretize a triply periodic repeating unit-cell (RUC). Linear parametric-geometric mapping is employed to transform the arbitrary hexahedral subcell shapes from the physical space to an auxiliary orthogonal shape, where a complete quadratic displacement expansion is performed. Previously in the 2-D case, additional three equations are needed in the form of average moments of equilibrium as a result of the inclusion of the bilinear terms. However, the present 3-D parametric HFGMC formulation eliminates the need for such additional equations. This is achieved by expressing the coefficients of the full quadratic polynomial expansion of the subcell in terms of the side or face average-displacement vectors. The 2-D parametric and orthogonal HFGMC are special cases of the present 3-D formulation. The continuity of displacements and tractions, as well as the equilibrium equations, are imposed in the average (integral) sense as in the original HFGMC formulation. Each of the six sides (faces) of a subcell has an independent average displacement micro-variable vector which forms an energy-conjugate pair with the transformed average-traction vector. This allows generating symmetric stiffness matrices along with internal resisting vectors for the subcells which enhances the computational efficiency. The established new parametric 3-D HFGMC equations are formulated and solution implementations are addressed. Several applications for triply periodic 3-D composites are presented to demonstrate the general capability and varsity of the present parametric HFGMC method for refined micromechanical analysis by generating the spatial distributions of local stress fields. These applications include triply periodic composites with inclusions in the form of a cavity, spherical inclusion, ellipsoidal inclusion, discontinuous aligned short fiber. A 3-D repeating unit-cell for foam material composite is simulated