• Journal of Construction Engineering and Project Management
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.1-7
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• 2016

The purpose of this paper is to develop a model for selecting the best contractor in the Gaza Strip using the Artificial Neural Network (ANN). The contractor's selection methods and criteria were identified using a field survey. Fifty four engineers were asked to fill a questionnaire that covers factors related to the selection criteria of contractors practiced in Gaza Strip. The results shows that the dominant part of respondents (91%) confirmed that the current awarding method "the lowest bid price" is considered one of the major problems of the construction sector, "award the bid to the highest weight after combination of the technical and financial scores" represented 50% of the respondents. The criteria weights were determined based on Relative Importance Index (RII. Ninety-one tenders(13 projects) were used to train and test the ANN model after re-evaluating the contractors depend on the weights of factors to select the best contractor who achieves the highest score. Neurosolution software was used to train the models. The results of the trained models indicated that neural network reasonably succeeded in selection the best contractor with 95.96% accuracy. The performed sensitivity analysis showed that the profitability and capital of company are the most influential parameters in selection contractors. This model gives chance to the owner to be more accurate in selecting the most appropriate contractor.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.9 no.9
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• pp.131-141
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• 2022

Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), whether international (INGOs) or local (NGOs), are the primary engines of humanitarian assistance in almost all national economies. Food security and these organizations are inextricably linked. They include a wide range of activities that need shared management or ventures to ensure food security in the Gaza Strip. Between December 2021 and January 2022, the survey was delivered online using Google forms. The target demographic for the research was those who worked for NGOs, whether it is local or international, in the Gaza Strip in the field of food security. Furthermore, 250 employees (N = 250) were used for this research. Women's contributions to these organizations' innovation in the Gaza Strip are highlighted in this research, which has crucial ramifications for policymakers and leaders. As a first step, NGOs should encourage more female leaders to enter this organization to boost female roles in this field. Leaders in Gaza Strip could also help promote the innovative management of top female leaders. Hence, these firms should offer training programs to assist women in their advancement in innovation.

• Journal of Construction Engineering and Project Management
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.9-16
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• 2014

The purpose of this paper is to develop a model for forecasting early design construction cost of building projects using Artificial Neural Network (ANN). Eighty questionnaires distributed among construction organizations were utilized to identify significant parameters for the building project costs. 169 case studies of building projects were collected from the construction industry in Gaza Strip. The case studies were used to develop ANN model. Eleven significant parameters were considered as independent input variables affected on "project cost". The neural network model reasonably succeeded in estimating building projects cost without the need for more detailed drawings. The average percentage error of tested dataset for the adapted model was largely acceptable (less than 6%). Sensitivity analysis showed that the area of typical floor and number of floors are the most influential parameters in building cost.

• Mycobiology
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.219-229
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• 2006

Seventeen microbial species including 10 fungal taxa, two yeasts and five bacteria, were isolated from freshly prepared orange, guava and banana juices kept in open bottles at room temperature for 7 days. Eight different essential oils, from local herbs, were tested for their antimicrobial activity against these test organisms. The essential oils of Cymbopogon citratus, Ocimum basilicum and Origanum majorana were found to be highly effective against these microorganisms. Aspergillus niger, A. flavus and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the most prevalent microorganisms in juice, showed the highest resistance against these essential oils. GC-MS analysis showed that while e-citral, a'-myrcene, and z-citral represent the major components (75.1 %) of the essential oil of Cymbopogon citratus; bezynen,l-methyl-4-(2-propenyl), 1,8-cineole and trans-a'-bisabolene were the main components (90.6%) of Ocimum basilicum; whereas 3-cyclohexen-l-0l,4-methyl-l(l-methylethyl)-(CAS), c-terpinene and trans-caryophyllene represent the major components (65.1%) of Origanum majorana. These three essential oils were introduced into juices by two techniques namely, fumigation and direct contact. The former technique showed more fungicidal effect than the latter one against A. flavus, A. niger, and S. cerevisiae. The essential oil of Cymbopogon citratus by comparison to other test oils showed the strongest effect against these fungi with a minimum inhibitory concentration of $1.5\;{\mu}l/ml$ medium and a sublethal concentration of $1.0\;{\mu}l/ml$. The antimicrobial activity of this oil is thermostable at $121^{\circ}C$ for 30 min.

• Journal of Construction Engineering and Project Management
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.1-10
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• 2015

There is a high confidence based on scientific evidence that climate is changing over time. Now climate change is considered as one of the challenges facing the construction industry. As no project is risk free and climate change has a strong impact on the different phases of the construction project lifecycle. This research aimed at providing a platform of knowledge for the construction management practitioners about the impacts of climate change on the construction projects lifecycle, identify the most dangerous climate change factors on the construction project lifecycle, and identify the most affected phase by climate change factors through the construction projects lifecycle. The study depended on the opinions of civil engineers who have worked in the construction projects field among the reality of Gaza Strip. Questionnaire tool was adopted as the main research methodology in order to achieve the desired objectives. The questionnaire included 127 factors in order to obtain responses from 88 construction practitioners out of 98 representing 89.79% response rate about the influence of climate change on the generic lifecycle of construction projects. The results deduced that the most significant influence on the construction project lifecycle was related to the extreme weather events, rainfall change, and temperature change respectively. There was a general agreement between the respondents that the most affected phase by temperature, rainfall, and extreme weather events is the execution phase. The results also asserted with a high responses scale on the need to alternative procedures and clear strategies in order to face the climate change within construction industry.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.17-22
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• 2024

The war that broke out on October 7, 2023 is prolonging and expanding into the Middle East. Although the damage from war is increasing, humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip has been halted due to UNRWA's deviant actions. Powerful countries have suspended support, and the UN is appealing for support for the Gaza Strip. All damage is borne by civilians in the Gaza Strip, especially women, children, and the elderly. Israel has selected an evacuation zone and evacuation route in the Gaza Strip and established a humanitarian aid route in the border area. However, Hamas's resistance in underground tunnels, using civilian-dense areas and civilian facilities such as hospitals and schools as shields, further amplified civilian casualties. This Israel-Hamas war requires the international community to approach it from a human security perspective. We must strengthen the UN's functions and roles to ensure that humanitarian supplies reach the field and humanitarian intervention forces ensure human dignity and basic rights. We must restore the credibility of the UN's role through the Israel-Hamas war. In addition, Korea should urge the introduction of humanitarian aid and goods, and provide humanitarian goods such as daily necessities and medicine. We must also prepare for deployment as a member of the UN peacekeeping force in the future. These activities will help Korea develop into a model country that fulfills its role as a 'global pivotal nation' and will have a virtuous cycle of international support in the event of a future crisis on the Korean Peninsula.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.17
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• pp.7707-7711
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• 2015

A cross-sectional survey of 370 female teachers working at Governmental schools in Gaza city was conducted. Twenty four schools were selected randomly of all female schools of the city that included primary, preparatory and secondary. In each school all-female teachers aged 35-45 year were invited to fill out a self-administered questionnaire to investigate knowledge and behavior toward breast cancer screening. The survey revealed that more than 75% of women had never undergone clinical breast examination and 60% had never undergone mammography, whereas 62% performed breast self-examination (BSE). Women who performed BSE had significantly higher knowledge about breast cancer screening (P=0.001). Women attending CBE and mammography screening also had significantly higher knowledge (P=0.001). There were significant associations between the practices and presence of positive breast cancer family history (P=0.002) and the level of education of husbands (P=0.024). The oldest women demonstrated higher performance rates of screening methods than the youngest (P=0.001). Lack of breast screening knowledge was identified among more than one third of the women, and 24.6% of women did not know any screening method. About a half of women harboured misconceptions about breast cancer screening, including the belief that breast cancer not treatable. Women residing in Gaza city (P=0.00) and with husbands less educated were more likely to have a high level of misconceptions (P=0.01).

• Asian Journal for Public Opinion Research
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.7-25
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• 2013

For the Palestinians, what is the impact of the Arab Spring? The revolution not only dislodged Mubarak from the presidency, but also changed Egyptian policy regarding Palestinians in Gaza. New Egyptian diplomacy has encouraged Hamas and Fatah, which had been in dispute, to seek reconciliation and has loosened the border control on humanitarian grounds. We focus on Palestinian voting attitudes in the wake of the Arab Spring. Despite the vast quantity of literature written about Palestinian politics since the first decade of the millennium, we know little about the determinants of Palestinian attitudes toward the divided governments in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The Fatah government, in the West Bank, increased in popularity after submitting a request for UN recognition of Palestinian statehood. In Gaza, the Hamas government lost popularity because of mismanagement but won support through the success of its prisoner swap deal with Israel. However, evaluation of the ruling party does not depend only on one-time events. This research attempts to measure the impact of policy change in Gaza after the Arab Spring. We provide an account of our research on Palestinian attitudes toward the divided governments based on two sets of the original survey data conducted in May 2009 and June 2012. The paper sheds light on Palestinian attitudes and makes clear the effects of "democratization" in the Middle East and the effects of regional context factors on the occupied Palestinians.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2015.10a
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• pp.65-69
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• 2015

The aim of this paper is to identify and rank the main causes of fall accidents from scaffolding according to their relative importance as perceived by project managers and site engineers in construction projects in the Gaza Strip. A total of 50 questionnaires were distributed to project managers and site engineers, 35 questionnaires were received yielding 70% response rate. A total of 33 factors that cause fall accidents in scaffolding were identified through a literature review and consolidated by a pilot study. These factors were categorized into six groups: factors related to erection, factors related to the staff (Scaffolders), factors related to loads, factors related to the personal safety, factors related to the workers behavior, factors related to the personal competencies. The results indicated that factors related to the workers behavior are the major factors that caused fall accidents from scaffolds. The results revealed that the top ranked factors which caused falls accidents from scaffolding were: absence of personal protective equipment (PPE), missing ladders, wind loads, disguised the design code, lack of proper assembly or inspection, overhead tools and materials, climbing and neglect using ladders, lack of guardrails, missing bracing and working during fatigue. These findings would help contractors to understand the top factors that caused fall accidents so that they can take them into consideration in safety planning in order to minimize the possibility of their occurrences.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2015.10a
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• pp.142-146
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• 2015

Human resources development is considered a critical issue for improving productivity of workers in construction industry. The aim of this study is to identify and rank the key motivating factors that impact skilled workers productivity according to their relative importance. A total of 27 factors were identified through a literature review, which were categorized into 2 group financial and un-financial motivators. A questionnaire instrument was adopted in this study. The study revealed that the most significant group which affected skilled workers' productivity in construction projects was financial group with the recognition of the un-financial group importance. The results emphasized that the financial group has an edge over the un-financial group which reflect the priority of need for the respondents. The results indicated that the un-financial group represents a backbone in its importance after the financial group which reflects that un-financial factors can improve productivity. The findings showed that the provision of companies to safety conditions factor such as protective safety clothing and protective equipment was ranked very low by the respondents. This is due to the dominant culture of the workers as well as the lack of their awareness regarding their own safety and lack of companies' interest in safety and health for workers. Construction companies are advised to take the key motivating factors obtained from the results of this study into serious consideration in order to improve the satisfaction of their workers and improve their productivity.