• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.89-97
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• 2021

This research aims to investigate the impact of falling oil prices at the beginning of 2020 on 82 industrial companies listed on the GCC stock markets. The research sample period is divided into two periods pre-COVID and during COVID covering the period starting 1st January 2020 to May 15, 2020. The research uses the Panel Least Square (PLS) method and Panel Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) with fixed and random effects in each country. The results of GMM models reveal a positive relationship between oil prices and the share prices of industrial companies in the Gulf countries, which confirms that the share prices of industrial companies in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have been negatively affected by the decline in oil prices with the beginning of 2020. The findings show that the highest impact of falling oil prices has been recorded in the industrial companies in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. However, the falling of oil prices does not have a significant effect on industrial companies in the state of Qatar. The research results suggest that GCC economies have to move on the path of non-reliance on Oil and gas-driven economy.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.229-235
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• 2021

The ability of entrepreneurs to arrange working capital is the key to maximizing the profitability of small- and medium-sized enterprises and the wealth of entrepreneurs. The study investigates the correlation between entrepreneurs' working capital management and the profitability of SMEs listed on six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) stock exchanges between 2019 and 2020. The secondary data is collected from the financial statements of SMEs listed on the six GCC stock exchanges. Actual sample for the research study was a total of 136 small- and medium-sized enterprises selected using purposive sampling methods. Four research models were considered in this analysis, all ending up affecting gross profits. The selected entrepreneurial SMEs were listed on six different Gulf Cooperation Council stock exchanges during 2019-2020. The fixed financial assets ratio, financial debt ratio, and company size are used as control variables and data were analyzed using multiple regression. The research results demonstrate that there is a statistically significant negative correlation between profitability measured by gross profit and cash cycle and the components of the cash cycle (including days of accounts receivable and days of inventory). The study further reveals that there is no significant correlation between gross profit and days of accounts payable.

• Asian Journal for Public Opinion Research
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.327-357
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• 2023

Adopting the Tools of Liberalism and Clash of Civilizations theories of international relations, this study examines the perceptions of 25,406 Arabs in 11 Arab countries as expressed in an Arab Barometer survey exploring their perceptions of violence against the United States (US), American citizens as "good," President Donald Trump's foreign policy in the Middle East, increasing economic relations with the US, and welcoming American foreign aid. As aspects of the Clash of Civilizations theory, this study examines religiosity, religious ritual practices, and political Islam and, as aspects of liberalism, this study explores the roles of online media as well as perceptions about US foreign aid in the prediction of the criterion variables. The findings suggest that religious indicators, and aspects of the Clash of Civilizations generally, were negative predictors of the perceptions, while social media and motivations for US foreign aid as aspects of liberalism, positively predicted the perceptions. The study discusses the results in relation to implications for policy makers.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.7 no.12
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• pp.181-193
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• 2020

This study examines the relationship between gender diversity (women on the board and women on the audit committee) and a firm's financial stability. The ordinary least square analysis was used to determine the relationship. To measure the financial stability of Malaysian suspect firms, i.e., firms with the lowest positive earnings, the Altman (1993) Z-Score measurement was utilized. The results indicate that women on the board are significantly and negatively associated with the firm's financial stability. That is, they are related to low financial stability, which contradicts the agency and resource dependence theories. Regarding women directors on the audit committee, there is no significant relationship with financial stability, meaning that they cannot protect the company against financial distress. These results are robust and do not change when using different measurements of gender diversity, one-year lag of independent variables, and other methods of analysis, namely random effect panel data. This study is the first to alert policymakers, stakeholders, researchers, and society in general to the need to re-evaluate and strengthen the role of women directors in improving firms' financial stability, particularly in emerging economies like Malaysia.

• ALGAE
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.141-150
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• 2008

Populations of Codium amplivesiculatum were found in association with rhodolith beds. We present population trends of C. amplivesiculatum from surveys conducted in the southwestern Gulf of California based on monthly sampling from June 1999 to August 2000. Surveys were conducted at 2 sites in the San Lorenzo Channel at depths of 8 - 12 m. The parameters measured were percent cover, biomass and structure in relation to size of the thalli. From each thallus the following measurements were taken: length and diameter, proportion of each thallus with reproductive structures and the degree of fragmentation (measured as number of small thalli). Mean biomass and cover varied seasonally with the maximum (1036.6 gm$^{-2}$ and 100% cover) present in June 2000 and the minimum in winter (0 gm$^{-2}$ and 0% cover). The longest fronds (3 m) occurred during July 1999 and August 2000, while the maximum diameters of 1.0 cm were present during October and November 1999. There were no significant linear relationships between length and diameter of the fronds, suggesting independent growth. Reproductive structures were common in June and July 1999 with monoic and dioic thalli present. Most fronds were monoic, and this is the first record of this feature for this species. Fragmentation occurred in September, and may be associated with stress from early gametangial reproduction and the combination of high temperatures and low nutrients. A hypothetical life cycle for the species is presented.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.427-430
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• 2015

Background: Dokha is a novel form of smoking in United Arab Emirates (UAE) on which there is very little published literature, especially among adolescents, and this form of smoking has been not been addressed adequately in the smoking cessation strategies in the UAE. Objectives: To assess the prevalence of dokha smoking among male secondary school students in Ajman UAE. Materials and Methods: A cross sectional survey was conducted among male secondary school students in Ajman, UAE. A total of 560 participants filled in self-administered questionnaires. Results: The prevalence of ever smokers was 39%; ever dokha smokers was 36% and current dokha smokers was 24%. The prevalence is very high when compared to other forms of smoking in the region and globally. Prevalence increased with increasing age and grade of students, prevalence of ever smokers, ever dokha smokers and current dokha smokers was lower in students in the science stream. 40% of the smokers used dokha, cigarettes and shisha, 30% used dokha and cigarettes, and 21% used dokha alone. 30% of the students smoked dokha on all days of the month. Conclusions: The prevalence of ever smokers, ever dokha smokers and current dokha smokers is very high. There is an urgent need for specific health promotion programs tailored to this age group on prevention of dokha smoking and policies restricting the availability of dokha to this age group.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.285-292
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• 2018

In the following study, Artificial Neural Network (ANN) is used for prediction of permeate flux decline during oily wastewater treatment by hybrid powdered activated carbon-microfiltration (PAC-MF) process using mullite and mullite-alumina ceramic membranes. Permeate flux is predicted as a function of time and PAC concentration. To optimize the networks performance, different transfer functions and different initial weights and biases have been tested. Totally, more than 850,000 different networks are tested for both membranes. The results showed that 10:6 and 9:20 neural networks work best for mullite and mullite-alumina ceramic membranes in PAC-MF process, respectively. These networks provide low mean squared error and high linearity between target and predicted data (high $R^2$ value). Finally, the results present that ANN provide best results ($R^2$ value equal to 0.99999) for prediction of permeation flux decline during oily wastewater treatment in PAC-MF process by ceramic membranes.

• 한국해양학회지
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.17-33
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• 1980

The materials were obtained in the eastern Gulf of Alaska and the south- eastern Bering Sea during the cruise of the research vessel, Ohdae San, from July to October 1978. A total of 76 samples were taken by NORPAC net from a depth of 200 meters or less in coastal areas. 1. The surface water temperature in the coastal waters, varing from 9 to 10$^{\circ}C$, was lower than that in offshore waters which varied from 10 to 12.9$^{\circ}C$ in the eastern Gulf of Alaska. Thermocline was formed in the 30∼50 meter layer. Salinity of the coastal waters of Kenai Peninsula and Kodiak was 30 which was slightly lower than that of offshore. 2. The water temperature of the surface layer down to 30 meters varied from 7 to 10$^{\circ}C$ and from 1 to 9$^{\circ}C$ in the layer below 30 meters in the south-eastern Bering Sea. Meandering thermal front spread from the Alaska Peninsula to St. Matthew Island by way of St. Paul, and a thermocline was found at the 30∼50 meter layer Salinity ranged from 31.0 to 33.0 and that of northern and coastal waters was little lower than that of offshore. 3. Zooplankton biomass fluctuated from 0.1 to 23.6cc/10㎥ in the eastern Gulf of Alaska and 2.0 to 26.1cc/10㎥ in the south-eastern Bering Sea. Plankton was rich in the following areas, the inshore Kodiak waters, the northern Bering Sea, the Coastal waters and waters adjacent to Alutian islands however, poor in the central Bering Sea. In general, the south-eastern Bering Sea has a higher concentration of plankton volume than the eastern Gulf of Alaska. 4. Twenty three species representing 17 genera of copepods were identified from the samples. These were mostly composed of the cold water species, such as Pseudocalanus minutus, Acartia longiremis, Metridia lucens and Eucalanus bungii var. bungii. 5. The cold oceanic species were composed of Calanus cristatus, C.plumchrus, Metridia lucens, Eucalanus bungii var. bungii and Scolecithricella minor. The cold neritic species were Centropages abdominalis, Pseudocalanus minutus, Acartia longiremis, Eurytemora herdmanii, Pontella pulvinata, P. longipedata and Tortanus discaudatus. On the other hand, the warm oceanic species were Calanus tenuicornis and Oithona plumifera. The cosmopolitan species were Calanus finmarchicus and Oithona similis. 6. It was suggested that the cold oceanic species, Eucalanus bungii var. bungii and Metridia lucens in the south-eastern Bering Sea can be recommended as a valuable indicator species for finding the fishing grounds of demersal fish such as pollock and yellowfin sole in this area.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.577-586
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• 2018

In Korea, sustainability is mandatory in every field. University campuses are educational facilities that consume considerable amounts of energy. Therefore, many universities have tried to take advantage of the last opportunity to prepare students with sustainability and leadership. This study compared the green campus policy and evaluation criteria among Korea, US AASHE, UNEP, and ISCN-GULF to vitalize the green campus movement and suggest recent research data for the Korea green campus accreditation. The results are as follows: 1. new evaluation criteria need to be added to the certified green building total floor area ratio instead of adapting the G-SEED system in the Campus Resource & Environments category; 2. Korean Green Campus Evaluations need to be improved when expressing the campus individuality by choosing an increased number of credits and criteria; and 3. new evaluation criteria are required to secure the result, feedback, and products from curriculum updates in the Campus Education category.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2015

Salinity affects sound speed in the low salinity environment, in the seas where freshwater from large rivers and flows into the marginal sea area near the Yangtze River and the Niger River. In this paper, SSC (Surface Sound Channel) formed by low salinity water was investigated in the East China Sea and the Gulf of Guinea of rainy season. The data from KODC (Korea Oceanographic Data Center) in the East China Sea and from ARGO (Array for Real-time Geostrophic Oceanography) in the Gulf of Guinea of the tropical area were used for analysis. SSC haline channel was formed 14 times among 32 SSC occurrences when the 90 data from 9 points were analyzed during a decade (2000 ~ 2009) in the East China Sea. In the Gulf of Guinea, haline channel was formed 18 times among 20 SSC occurrences during 3 years (2006 ~ 2009). When the sound speed gradient was analyzed from temperature-salinity gradient diagram, the gradients of both salinity and temperature affect SSC formation in the East China Sea. In contrast, the salinity gradient mostly affects SSC formation due to the least change of temperature in the well-developed mixed layer in the Gulf of Guinea. Their acoustic characteristics show that channel depth is 6.5 m, critical angle is $1.5^{\circ}$ and difference of transmission loss between surface and thermocline is 11.5 dB in the East China Sea, while channel depth is 18 ~ 24 m, critical angle is $4.0{\sim}5.4^{\circ}$ and difference of transmission loss is 21.5 ~ 27.9 dB in the Gulf of Guinea. These results are expected to be used as a basic understanding of the acoustic transmission changes due to low salinity water at the estuaries and the ocean with heavy precipitation.