The successful implementation of e-government transformation: A case study in Oman

The aim of this paper is to investigate, and to discuss the key critical factors that facilitate the successful implementation of E-government projects. The nature of this research is mainly qualitative. This investigation uses a single case study and data was mainly collected by means of semi-structured interviews and organisational documents from the Ministry of Higher Education in Oman. The research findings suggest that there are three paradigms which each include a set of factors that impacts the success of E-government success namely, organisational paradigm, technology paradigm and end-users paradigm. The authors believe that, this paper demonstrates an added value to the current literature on transformation of E-government and to E-government projects success, within the wider context of E-government implementation projects. Also the research will benefit organisations in the public sector, as it has identified main key success factors in E-government transformations and implementations

On two-dimensional quantum gravity and quasiclassical integrable hierarchies

The main results for the two-dimensional quantum gravity, conjectured from the matrix model or integrable approach, are presented in the form to be compared with the world-sheet or Liouville approach. In spherical limit the integrable side for minimal string theories is completely formulated using simple manipulations with two polynomials, based on residue formulas from quasiclassical hierarchies. Explicit computations for particular models are performed and certain delicate issues of nontrivial relations among them are discussed. They concern the connections between different theories, obtained as expansions of basically the same stringy solution to dispersionless KP hierarchy in different backgrounds, characterized by nonvanishing background values of different times, being the simplest known example of change of the quantum numbers of physical observables, when moving to a different point in the moduli space of the theory.Comment: 20 pages, based on talk presented at the conference "Liouville field theory and statistical models", dedicated to the memory of Alexei Zamolodchikov, Moscow, June 200

Knowledge management: Exploring the relationship between human capital and organisation structure capital

Human capital and its impact on the organisation structure capital are of paramount importance in the modern business organisations. This research in progress, which investigates and analyses the role that human capital plays in the determination of the organisation structure capital. The study is based on wide spectrum of current literature, which presents theoretical and practical research on the subject of study. Knowledge Management (KM) is systematic process based on models and technological integration, which helps in the development of the conceptual framework. It is assumed that KM leads to benefits for the organisation and provides a platform for future research. Also, it addresses KM impacts on human capital and the enhancement of organisational effectiveness. The procedure is established for the measurement of the effectiveness of knowledge management criteria. The study aims at large businesses in Syria. It is confirmed through the results and findings that models and processing of information through systematic structure is essential for the development of the manager’s capabilities which plays an important factor in defining the impact of human capital on the success of the organisation structure of a business

PyFml - a Textual Language For Feature Modeling

The Feature model is a typical approach to capture variability in a software product line design and implementation. For that, most works automate feature model using a limited graphical notation represented by propositional logic and implemented by Prolog or Java programming languages. These works do not properly combine the extensions of classical feature models and do not provide scalability to implement large size problem issues. In this work, we propose a textual feature modeling language based on Python programming language (PyFML), that generalizes the classical feature models with instance feature cardinalities and attributes which be extended with highlight of replication and complex logical and mathematical cross-tree constraints. textX Meta-language is used for building PyFML to describe and organize feature model dependencies, and PyConstraint Problem Solver is used to implement feature model variability and its constraints validation. The work provides a textual human-readable language to represent feature model and maps the feature model descriptions directly into the object-oriented representation to be used by Constraint Problem Solver for computation. Furthermore, the proposed PyFML makes the notation of feature modeling more expressive to deal with complex software product line representations and using PyConstraint Problem SolverComment: 13 pages, 13 figures, 29 refrence

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and COVID-19 infection during pregnancy

This article is made available for unrestricted research re-use and secondary analysis in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for the duration of the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic

A Review on the Bulk and Surface Chemistry of Iron in Atmospherically-relevant Systems Containing Humic Like Substances (HULIS)

As the fourth most abundant element by mass in the Earth’s crust, iron is ubiquitous and its chemistry is rich and interdisciplinary in nature. This review synthesizes the current state of knowledge of iron chemistry in multicomponent atmospheric aerosols, which is also applicable to other atmospherically-relevant systems that include iron-containing anthropogenic nanodust, ocean surfaces and buildings. Because of the abundance of humic-like substances (HULIS) in these systems, studies on their chemistry with iron and those used as models for HULIS are the focus of this review. Findings from field measurements and laboratory studies are summarized to highlight major themes in iron chemical reactivity that varies depending on the solubility, redox conditions, absence and presence of UV-visible light and reactive oxygen species, pH, and temperature. The review also highlights key differences between bulk and surface chemistry of iron-containing materials, which varies considerably because of the structure of interfacial water and solvent cage effect. Additional laboratory, field, and modeling studies are needed to better understand the contributions of transition metals chemistry to secondary organic aerosol formation and chemistry, uptake, and release of trace gas phase species. This information will improve the predictive power of models that incorporate aerosols chemistry and physics

Air pollution and health indicators in a rapidly developing industrial port in the Sultanate of Oman

Background and Aims: Sohar Industrial Port (Sultanate of Oman), started to operate in 2006, containing many industries that may adversely contribute to the air quality and hence to the health status of the residents in its proximity. The study aim is to assess the health effects of air quality of the population living in the residential area around the industrial port. Methods: Health data for the area were obtained between January 1st 2006 and December 31st 2011 from the Ministry of Health, Oman. Exposure to air pollution was classified into exposure zones according to mixture methods such as, proximity, dispersion models and wind roses. Four exposure zones were developed, from High, Intermediate, Sohar city and Control zones. Age and gender standardized rates were calculated for respiratory, cardiovascular and allergic diseases in each exposure zone. Results: The crude rate ratios of respiratory diseases in the high, the intermediate and Sohar city were (1.91, 95% CI, 1.87, 1.95), (1.18, 95% CI, 1.15, 1.21) and (0.18, 95% CI, 0.18,0.19), respectively. For dermatitis, these rates were (2.16, 95% CI, 1.91,2.45) for the high exposure zone, (1.05, 95% CI, 0.91, 1.23) for the intermediate zone and (0.20, 95% CI, 0.17,0.23) for Sohar city. In addition, the high exposure zone showed an increasing yearly trend of the incidence rate from 2007 to 2009 in both respiratory diseases and dermatitis. Conclusion: Evidence of adverse health effects was found in the high and intermediate exposure zones. More rigorous modeling is underway, which will involve other diseases and confounders