Search

The articles of this special issue explore the problems of public policy in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region (including Turkey, excluding Iran) as well as why the role of public polic...

This article highlights the objective of the special issue which is to understand the status of public administration in six profiled countries – Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Turkey – in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The special issue explores public administration as a concept—the diversity of guiding general principles that determines how governments administer the affairs of state in the context of their governance frameworks—and as praxis—the diversity of public administration structures, procedures and practice, and reform initiatives. It is evident that the countries profiled have adopted a mode of public administration and governance that mirrors its history, and its cultural, geo-political, socio-economic, and conflictive environments. In this context, the editors hope that the articles presented in this special issue will contribute to advancing the public administration literature in MENA.

The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) is currently under development with four out of the total planned seven satellites deployed in space. The Department of Navigation and Positioning of the Finnish Geospatial Research Institute (FGI) has been an early adopter of this system in Europe through the development of its software-based multi-frequency multi-GNSS receiver, called FGI-GSRx. This paper presents the results of the first comprehensive IRNSS receiver implementation in Finland, if not in Europe, using the FGI-GSRx receiver. Following a brief description of the IRNSS system, the paper presents the receiver architecture, including the acquisition and tracking stages, and position computation. The results show that IRNSS satellites when used in multi-GNSS positioning can be beneficial in augmenting other satellite systems over north and east Europe. These benefits are expected to grow as more IRNSS satellites are deployed in space in the future. Therefore, the impact of these r...

Soybean plants require high amounts of nitrogen, which are mainly obtained from biological nitrogen fixation. A field experiment was conducted by soybean (Glycine max) genotypes, growing two varieties (Shohag and BARI Soybean6) and two advanced lines (MTD10 and BGM02026) of soybean with or without Rhizobium sp. BARIRGm901 inoculation. Soybean plants of all genotypes inoculated with Rhizobium sp. BARIRGm901 produced greater nodule numbers, nodule weight, shoot and root biomass, and plant height than non-inoculated plants. Similarly, inoculated plants showed enhanced activity of nitrogenase (NA) enzyme, contributing to higher nitrogen fixation and assimilation, compared to non-inoculated soybean plants in both years. Plants inoculated with Rhizobium sp. BARIRGm901 also showed higher pod, stover, and seed yield than non-inoculated plants. Therefore, Rhizobium sp. BARIRGm901 established an effective symbiotic relationship with a range of soybean genotypes and thus increased the nodulation, growth, and yield of soybean grown in gray terrace soils in Bangladesh.

This article contributes to our understanding of whether democratic governance can be achieved in post-revolution Egypt. It explores the status of three key pillars of democratic governance in the context of the January 2011 People’s Revolution and subsequent political developments through August 2013: (1) inclusive participation, (2) responsive institutions, and (3) adherence to international practices and principles. Available evidence suggests that none of the democratic governance pillars has been realized so far as a result of political instability in Egypt. The article argues that the current political environment is not favorable to achieving democratic governance in Egypt.

The physical and chemical parameters were monitored for seven weeks during Trichoderma/Aspergillus inoculated rice straw composting at various pH levels. Three treatments (A, B, and C) were inoculated with lignocellulolytic microbial consortium (Aspergillus niger, F44 and Trichoderma viride, F26) and three were un-inoculated (D, E, and F). pH of the starting materials was amended to 5.75 (A and D), 6.75 (B and E), and 7.75 (C and F) with either acetic acid or sodium hydroxide. Three typical phases of temperature were observed both in inoculated and un-inoculated treatments during composting: mesophilic phase, thermophilic phase, and followed by cooling and maturation phase. The bioconversion were maximum in Trichoderma/Aspergillus inoculated treatments within 14–21 days as indicated by the profiles of electrical conductivity, bulk density, total carbon and nitrogen, and germination index. After day 21, the germination index of Trichoderma/Aspergillus inoculated treatment (B) without any pH amendme...

Jute fabrics/melamine composites (20% fiber) were prepared by compression molding. Mechanical properties of the composites were evaluated. Mechanical properties of starch-treated jute/melamine composites, including tensile strength (31%), bending strength (29%), tensile modulus (23%), bending modulus (25%), impact strength (113%), and hardness (4%), inproved significantly over the untreated composite. Fracture surfaces of untreated and treated composites were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and supported poorer fiber matrix adhesion for the untreated composite than that of the treated composite. Water uptake and soil degradation tests of untreated and treated composites were also performed.

This article examines the role political leadership plays in achieving good governance in Kazakhstan, a post-communist country in Central Asia. Since its withdrawal from the USSR, Kazakhstan maintains an authoritative political leadership, where President Nazarbayev, his trusted “inner-circle,” and the stalwarts of the Nur Otan party effectively rule the country. Opposition political parties are weak and disorganized, and their leaders are not quite capable of mobilizing favorable public opinion. The finding of the study suggests that the Kazakhstani political leadership has limited success in achieving good governance in Kazakhstan.

A chromophore for nonlinear optics with extended conjugation has been synthesized, and its structure determined from X-ray diffraction data. The compound crystallizes in the monoclinic system with the space group P21/n and Z = 4. The unit cell parameters are a = 10.7826(4) A, b = 14.5943(5) A, c = 15.3792(5) A and beta = 96.213(2)°. A thin film containing 5% of the chromophore in amorphous polycarbonate when poled at 180°C and 60 V/μm yields a maximum r33 value of 206 pm/V. This is seven times higher than the value found for the archetypical inorganic material, lithium niobate.

The impact of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) on public sector service delivery is immense as evidenced in Kazakhstan, a post-Soviet republic, and beyond. This article critically examines the trajectories of e-government implementation for public sector service delivery in Kazakhstan. Available evidence suggests that even the partial implementation of e-government accrues benefits, while the operational challenges, such as the lack of political support and consensus, the digital divide, the lack of qualified human resources, language, and infrastructure development, need to be addressed to ensure a cost-efficient, cost-effective, accountable, and transparent service delivery to Kazakhstanis.

Jute fiber-reinforced melamine composites (16–35% fiber) were prepared by hot press at 125°C for 10 min at 8 MT pressure. Tensile strength, tensile modulus, bending strength, bending modulus and impact strength of the composites (16% fiber) were found to be 44 MPa, 532 MPa, 112 MPa, 1.4 GPa and 13 kJ/m2, respectively. Effect of gamma radiation on the composites was investigated. Water uptake properties of the irradiated composites were found to improve significantly. Interfacial properties of the composites were investigated by SEM and were revealed that fiber matrix adhesion was quite good.

Decentralization stands at a crossroad of scholarly debate and discussion on governance issues, no less so in transition countries. This article examines the role of decentralization for the promotion of good local governance in Kazakhstan. Available evidence substantiates that decentralization has a limited capacity to contribute to good local governance in Kazakhstan. This raises a fundamental question as to whether the Kazakh government is politically ready to build an efficient and responsive local government in order to achieve its “Kazakhstan 2030” policy aspirations.

The recovery of phosphates from biological wastewater treatment plants, through struvite crystallization, minimizes operational downtime and offers the potential for cost-effective recovery. The pilot-scale, fluidized bed reactor developed at the University of British Columbia (UBC) was found to be effective in recovering phosphate in the form of nearly pure struvite product, from an anaerobic digester centrate. The desired degree of phosphate removal was achieved by maintaining operating pH 8.0-8.2, and recycle ratio 5-9, to control the supersaturation conditions inside the reactor. The performance of the system was found to be optimal when the in-reactor supersaturation ratio was 2-6. In-reactor magnesium to phosphate molar ratio was found to be an important parameter to maintain system performance. In-reactor ammonium to phosphate molar ratio was also found to maintain a good correlation with phosphate removal. The influence of organic ligands on the struvite precipitation was investigated for a small molecular weight organic ligand, acetate, using a chemical equilibrium model PHREEQC. An acetate concentration below about 100 mg l(-1) was not found to affect the precipitation potential of struvite. Calcium and carbonate ion did not have any noticeable effect in struvite crystallization of struvite, under the operational concentrations utilized. Since the precipitation of calcium and carbonate compounds was controlled by kinetic factors, rather than thermodynamic solubility alone, the solid precipitates harvested were pure struvite, with undetectable impurities.

Accumulation of magnesium ammonium phosphate hexahydrate (struvite) on surfaces in contact with wastewater, especially in anaerobic sludge digestion and post-digestion processes, is a widely reported problem in the wastewater treatment industry. The solubility and thermodynamic properties of struvite at different temperatures was studied. Struvite thermodynamic solubility products at temperatures between 10 and 60 'C were determined by variation of solution ionic strength and extrapolation to zero ionic strength, using an appropriate activity coefficient model. The pKsp value of struvite at 25 degrees C was found to be 13.36 (+/-0.07). The pKsp value for a temperature range of 10-60 degrees C varies from 14.36 (+/-0.05) to 14.01 (+/-0.03) with the minimum value of 13.17 (+/-0.05) at 30 degrees C. The effect of ionic strength, pH and temperature on struvite solubility was also studied. The solubility of struvite determined in deionized water was found to be 169.2 (+/-4.3) mg l(-1) at 25 degrees C, with the maximum value of 212.7 (+/-3.8) mg l(-1) at 35 degrees C. Standard enthalpy of reaction, delta Hr degrees calculated from the average Ksp values for the temperature range of 10-30 degrees C, was 23.62 Kcal mol(-1). An analytical expression for the Ksp as a function of temperature has been developed by fitting experimental data.

Excess molar volumes, VE have been claculated from the density data of aqueous solutions of 1-propanol, 2-propanol, allyl alcohol and propargyl alcohol at temperatures ranging from 30°-50°C. The VE values have been found to be negative at all temperatures. The volume contraction for saturated alcohols, both straight and branched chain, in aqueous media is accounted for mainly by the hydrophobic effect, while that for unsaturated alcohols is explained primarily by the formation of H-bond between the alcohol and water. The dVE/dT values have been found to be positive for all alcohols. The temperature dependence of VE is thought to be strongly influenced by the structural properties of water.