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Design guidelines to Improve the Air Quality in Hot Climate Open Spaces - Jeddah city as a case studyAir Pollution has become a global concern that is harming human life, and it is increasing as societies are developing. Air pollution has become the reason respiratory and cardiovascular diseases lead to death. In this research, the air quality in the urban open spaces of Jeddah city will be studied know about the quality of air in hot climate open spaces. In a hot climate, the air propagates more, and there are chances it can cause more health problems. In this scenario, the air quality should be at a satisfactory level. So, in this study, first, the air quality and the factors affecting the air quality will be determined, which will further lead to the statistical analysis to find out the significant factor that is affecting the air quality. Ultimately, this will help us to prepare a set of guidelines to enhance the air quality of the open spaces of Jeddah.
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Power Quality Disturbances Elucidation in Hybrid Systems Based on Event-Driven Variational Mode Decomposition in The Smart Grid ProspectRecently renewable energy (RE) sources were combined with a utility network to establish a hybrid power system to accomplish the stability of power generations. Integrating a renewable-resources-based distributed generation (DG) system into the current power grid could cause problems with power quality (PQ), system dependability, and other challenges. The power quality (PQ) disruptions assessment is essential to guarantee high-quality power generations in smart grids. The research collected effectively models different types of PQ disturbances signals. After that, these can be used for the PQ disturbances interpreting systems training and performance quantification. The recording and collection of such signals is not an easy task. A common trend is the generation of real-like signals from mathematical models to overcome this limitation. This thesis will determine the PQ disturbances model based on IEEE 1159-2019 standard. The outcome of the model will evaluate the performance of the devised system. Firstly, the signal reconstruction will be performed to realize analog-quasi signals. In this context, mature and precise cubic-spline interpolators-based signal reconstruction algorithms are sued. In the next step, the reconstructed signals will be acquired by using the MATLAB-based event-driven sensing models. The acquired signals will be segmented by using novel event-driven activity selection techniques. Afterward, the segments will be decomposed in oscillatory modes by using the adaptive-rate Variational mode decomposition (VMD). This decomposition will result in Mode updates. The pertinent features will be extracted from modes. These features used to prepare templates, testing instances and to prepare and evaluate the considered classification algorithms. The outcome of the model evaluated the performance of the devised system. In this work, we evaluated 11 classes as final results, including the following cases transient, oscillatory transient, flicker, harmonics, interruption, sag, swell, notch, harmonics with sag with flicker, harmonics with swell with flicker, and swell with oscillatory transient signals by using the MATLAB-based event-driven sensing models. The comparison of the trained data between instants PQDs and extracted data using VMD feature extraction has been studied. The average results of the VMD feature extraction method of classifiers showed an improvement percentage between 10.05% to 60.38%.Accuracy and speed have been raised. The most significant improvement in the linear SVM classifier has been shown by 60.38% of average measurements. That will help the smart grid to reach maximum power and increase its affection. Assuming that it will result in rising energy efficiency and simple hardware along with lower latency realizations compared to the classical counter sensing and processing-based approaches. This Study is well aligned with the 2030 vision of Saudi Arabia and can be well integrated into the NEOM smart metering system. The solution has potential and could be commercialized in collaboration with the authorities and industrial partners in Saudi Arabia.
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Assessment of translation of pragmatic meaning and referents in season-three of political satire show albernamegThis research paper assesses the translation of season-three episodes of the political satire show, Albernameg, in terms of the rendition of pragmatic meaning and referents. It also assesses the understanding of 124 extracts by the native Egyptian and English audiences. Following a mixed approach, parallel semi-structured, in-depth, individual interviews were conducted, and surveys were distributed. The interviews aimed at making generalizations and hypotheses, which were validated and tested by the surveys. The research finds that 95% of the pragmatic meaning and referents were either partially mistranslated or untranslatable. It also concludes that the native English audience, who relied on subtitles only, was not able to fully comprehend those two linguistic elements. This study lays the foundation for future research on similar Arab political satire shows that were inspired by Albernameg, since it brings new insights about the Egyptian dialect. Furthermore, its findings can be used by students, professional and practitioner translators as well as subtitlers.
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Text-linguistic evaluation of Twitter's auto-translation service: Donald Trump’s Tweets during 2020 USA electionsOver the years, technology has revolutionized our daily lives and played an essential role in developing all work fields, including translation. However, some argue that depending on machine translation (MT) completely would produce a poor-quality translation. To illustrate, social media is a way to communicate across cultures, yet allowing users to access as much content as possible requires translation services. According to Twitter’s 20 Earnings Release, Twitter users in the 2020 1st quarter reached 166 million users worldwide, but not all of them speak the same language. Therefore, offering translations of tweets into as many languages as possible was necessary to assure a wide range of communication across different linguistic boundaries. In collaboration with a well-known MT software, namely, “Google Translate,” Twitter has launched an auto-translation service that translates all tweets immediately into the default language of the user’s account. Although on the face of it, MT saves time and effort, its outcome does not live up to expectations and may indeed hinder rather than help the process of communication. Therefore, research aiming to develop MT performance and outcome is essential to keep up with the ever-growing need for successful and timely communication nowadays. With this in mind, this research aims to evaluate the auto-translation (MT) of Donald Trump’s tweets during the US presidential elections in 2020, using text linguistic analysis model (Neubert and Shreve 1992), identifying and analyzing issues in the MT output, and suggesting alternative solutions to those issues in order to help produce better quality translations of these tweets. This textual product-oriented study finds out that although MT produces understandable translation, generally speaking, it is not ready yet to be relayed upon completely in translating Twitter’s political tweets, because of the recurring violations of the seven standards of textuality.
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A cultural conceptual, model-based analysis of web translation in tourismTourism web translation, as part of the commercial translation sector, has gained special attention in recent years, which is all thanks to globalization. Today, in just one click of a button on a tourism website, the tourists can plan and as well as decide on their next tourist destination. However, there appears to be limited study with the focus on cultural conceptualization and how it relates to the translation of tourism websites. In this regard, this study is aimed at analyzing the translation of a tourism website, using the Cultural Conceptual Translation Model (CCT). Two sets of corpora are used in the analysis of this study. The first set refers to the English and Arabic versions that were taken from the "Visit Saudi tourism website"(https://www.visitsaudi.com/en/). The second set of corpora refers to other English and Arabic parallel texts that were taken from commercial websites. A qualitative research methodology is conducted through a multiple choice and open-ended questions survey. Twenty-five participants responded to the survey, nine English nativespeakers and sixteen Arabic native-speakers. An extra-textual analysis was carried out on the VisitSaudi.com and parallel-text corpus. Based on the extra-textual analysis, relevant cultural dimensions particularly religious beliefs, individualism vs. collectivism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, indulgence vs. restraint, high vs. low context communication, orality vs. literacy were recognized. The cultural dimensions are discussed in relation to the destination themes, naturescapes and adventurescapes, and how these themes are presented by the website, stylescapes. Findings revealed that identification of the cultural dimensions is essential for the translation of style and content related to the tourism destination themes as it preserves the function of Tourism Promotional Materials (TPMs) by fulfilling the target audience's expectations. We also found that TPMs in a digitized medium tend to be localized more than translated, making them more accessible to different audiences with different cultural conceptualizations, expectations and motives.
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A Study of Self - Translated Intertexts in the Dusk Visitor by Musa Al-HaloolSelf-translation is drawing increasing critical attention in literary and translation studies. This thesis represents a case study that examines this literary practice and its aspects. Further, it is concerned with the challenges of translating three categories of intertextual references from the perspective of self-translation in a particular literary work, namely, The Dusk Visitor by Musa Al- Halool. The study argues that self-translators will be more successful in translating intertextually- rich texts because of their thorough knowledge of the original text and its embedded references. Further, it argues that self-translation enables the author-translator to cater to the needs of the target text (TT) and its readers. The main aims of it are to provide first-hand information about self- translation by some of the Arab authors as well as examine the transparency of the translations of the ST’s intertextual references. This thesis will examine the extent to which the ST’s intertextual references were successfully translated. Additionally, it aims at suggesting strategies that can be applied to compensate in the case of translation loss. The theoretical framework of this study adopts the cultural approach to translation studies as the research approach and implements the formal translation vs. the functional translation for analysis of the possible translation approaches and strategies that were used by the author-translator. The current study follows a qualitative approach for the analysis and uses interviews as a tool to collect data about self-translation. The qualitive analysis of the identified intertextual references has two parts, describing and comparing the translations of the TT’s references with the ST’s. The qualitative analysis of the intertextual references is supported with statistical data analysis to provide a visual presentation of the numbers of the intertextual references in the source and target text as well as provide an illustration of the translation approach that was used the most. The findings of this study disprove its second hypothesis by demonstrating that the author-translator did not capture all or most of the ST’s intertextual references. However, it proves that self-translation enables the translator to cater to the needs of the TT and its readers. Finally, it suggests strategies such as paratextual devices or lexical expansion that might help in capturing the ST’s intertextual references as well as achieve the appropriate formal or functional meanin
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The Problematics of Quranic Homonyms : Acomparative Study of four english translationsQuranic Homonyms in English translations indeed require further studies due to the insufficient attention paid to this issue. However, this thesis aims at scrutinizing and examining some homonymy cases in Quranic verses translated into English. The present study compares four well-known English translations, namely those of Pickthall, N. J. Dawood, Yusuf Ali and King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Quran translation. It attempts at finding the best translation that has managed to convey the implied meanings of the homonymous term. The comparison has been made in light of four authorised and great tafsirs by Al-Tabari, Al-Zamakhshari, Al-Razi and Al-Qurtubi. The aforementioned comparison intends to examine the accuracy of each homonymy interpretations, which should be as much akin as possible to the studied exegesis. The present study argues that the most accurate translation amongst the studied ones is King Fahd Complex translation. This may be due to the fact that the translation in question has been achieved by more than one translator, the translation concerned has shown sensitivity with regard to interpreting the homonymous terms, which presents the richness of the source text to the target reader. This has been accomplished through including some of the plausible meanings, to enhance the accuracy of the interpretation, in order to deliver the intended meaning(s) of the verse without having translation loss. The present study also claims that the translation of sacred texts should be institutionalized to be accurately interpreted.
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Translation Qur'an Parables in Surat alkahf : Contrastive Cultural analysis of figurative language in the Novle Qur'anGiven the sacred and sensitive nature of the Qur'an, this study is designed to provide a thorough contrastive cultural analysis of the figurative language found in four reputable Qur'an translations (Asad's, Ali's, Hilali-Khan's and Abdel-Haleem's translations) of the four parables mentioned in Surat al-Kahf. The study highlights the challenges encountered and the strategies adopted to surmount the Qur'an-specific and culture-specific figurative language. In addition, the study proposes the adoption of communicative exegetic translation (or facilitative interpretive approach) through lexical expansion procedures as the ideal strategy to be applied particularly in translating Qur'an parables. The eclectic methodology utilized for data collection is quantitatively conducted to examine the reader's understanding of the translated Qur'an figurative language, and qualitatively conducted to contrastively analyze the cultural strategies employed in the selected translations of the aforesaid Surah, thus enhancing the study's findings and results.
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A Critical Analysis of the English Translation of Raja Alem’s Novel, The Dove’s NecklaceIt is commonly perceived that the language people use is the product of their culture. The focus on culture is reflected in the field of literary translation, so cultural translation is recommended for full understanding of a literary source text (ST). Dealing with the problems related to cultural translation, Lawrence Venuti (1992) emphasizes the importance of linking the culture and ideology of the ST to the target text (TT). The researcher hypothesizes that the translators face difficulties in finding cultural equivalence based on the fact that no two languages are identical to each other. This conflict raises the question of what strategies translators should apply when they interpret cultural terms. This research aims at examining the English translation of Raja Alem’s Novel, The Dove’s Necklace (2012) based House’s (2015) Model of Translation Quality Assessment and Ghazala’s (2014) strategies of translating culture-specific concepts in order to identify the strategies that the translators applied in order to overcome the problems of untranslatability and culture-specific expressions.
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A Pragmatic Analysis of the Translation of Presuppositions: A Case Study of Four Political SpeechesPolitics plays a major role in people’s lives and political discourse is usually used to influence people’s thoughts and points of view. In their speeches, politicians tend to use all the possible tools to manipulate their audience. Such tools are sometimes borrowed from pragmatics. Presupposition is one of the pragmatic tools that is widely utilized by politicians to establish a shared ground between them and their audience. The study starts to shed light on the concept of pragmatic presupposition and highlight the issue of presupposition used in political speeches in relation to translation. Then the study discusses the translation of pragmatic presuppositions found in four speeches by two US presidents, Barack Obama and Donald Trump.
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Risk management in Islamic financial institutions:the case of Islamic Development BankThis research explores how Shariah compliancy is impacting risk management techniques by studying the case of the Islamic Development Bank. The research identifies the type of financial instruments and products that are used by Islamic financial institution, the major risks it faces in its operation and the risk management techniques it uses for each of those risks. A comparative analysis is then carried out to compare case of Islamic development bank with a conventional financial institution of similar kind that is the World Bank. The results of the analysis revealed that there is a consistency in fin , ancial products and services of Islamic and conventional financial institutions and the risks they usually face are also similar but because of the underlying Shariah principles which structures the Islamic financial transactions in a modified way considering the ethical perspective behind it, so the risk mitigation techniques are accordingly taking a different shape that is free from any unlawful deal or transaction in financial product, resulting in a fair shariah compliant risk management. Hence there is a difference observed between the risk management techniques used by conventional and Islamic financial institutions. In addition to the difference in risk management techniques of common risks, Islamic Fl has a unique Shariah compliant or Shariah reputational risk that is due to consideration of Shariah (Spirituality) and Islamic development bank also addresses this risk. However, as Islamic Development Bank is a non-profit organization, it faces less Shariah-risk than for-profit institutions and IDB is committed to Shariah rulings and adopts only Islamic modes of finance. Therefore the impact of Shariah risk is less than in case of for-profit organizations.
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The three step filtering models in assessing and comparing the performance of Islamic and conventional banks in KSAIslamic banks are considered as an alternative for conventional banks in the banking industry, their performance would be different from each other. This difference is important for investors in making their investment or hedging decisions. The purpose of this study is to investigate and assess the performance of the Islamic and conventional banks in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during the post-Financial US Crisis period. Using a series of ratios called by us “CAPLERS”, which is an extension of CAMELS (implemented in the literature), we examine the performance of Saudi Islamic banks versus the conventional ones. To perform such a comparison, we use seven-year annual data from 2010 through 2016 and 12 banks where 4 are Islamic and 8 conventional. The empirical framework involves three sequential steps. The first step consists in filtering the ratios based on their correlation with each other. The second specifies the ratios, which contributes to the performance with respect to Tobin Q method. The third step consists of implementing Logit regression model to figure out the performance of Islamic banks compared to conventional ones. Our results show that Saudi Islamic banks exhibit higher performance than conventional ones in terms Efficiency, Capital Adequacy, Asset quality and liquidity.
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Financial Performance-Efficiency Nexus in The Healthcare Sector in The GCC RegionThe health care corporates play a vital role in maintaining the health and sustainability of the entire health system. This study aims to analyze the efficiency of the financial performance and financial characteristics of public listed companies in the healthcare sector in the GCC region during the period 2011–2021 using data envelopment analysis and financial performance indicators. Among the many reasons behind choosing this nonparametric method is that it identifies the sources of inefficiency and specifies the directions and magnitudes of improvements required. Three input-oriented models – CCR under constant and BCC under variable returns-to-scale assumption – are employed for evaluating three types of efficiency: technical, pure technical, and scale efficiency. Two hypotheses are examined and empirically confirmed: first, there is significant firm variability in financial performance, and second, investments are the primary source of inefficiency among the observed indicators. The results have additionally revealed that the mentioned differences are less pronounced in the case of pure technical efficiency, implying that the overall inefficiency of healthcare companies in the sector in the GCC region can be generally attributed to scale efficiency. Finally, narrow, deep subsidiaries level (Hospitals and Pharmaceutical firms) and analyze the financial performance ratios, including the efficiency of different ratios of selling general management expenses, ROIC, ROA, ROE, ROS, total capital growth rate, and growth rates. These results indicate that profitability, growth, and return on invested capital of Hospitals firms are reflected in financial performance in considering superiority in efficiency and growth in pharmaceuticals firms. Also, the results indicate that healthcare companies do not spend or invest in Research and Development (R and D) for technological innovation. This result can reflect the expectation that healthcare companies' profitability, growth, and leverage will be more influenced by future cash flow. The implications of the research results are aimed at further research and testing the efficiency of the entire health care sector and providing policymakers quantitative guidance for policy formulation, with new insights when considering further study and testing the efficiency and financial performance with different assumptions
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Modeling Prices of Islamic Commodity SwaptionDespite the critical role SMEs paly in economic growth and job creation, SMEs access to bank credit is still challenging due to lack of financial transparency of most Saudi SMEs. The difficulties facing SMEs financing can be estimated through credit risk assessment. Good risk assessment can set a strong format of risk pricing to charge suitable loan premiums and make sound decision about issuing loans. There are scientific statistical methods to assess credit risk of enterprises. This study employs the internal factors most affecting a company?s performance to construct logistic regression model using panel data of over 60 Saudi firms (with revenues less than 200 SAR) to assess the credit risk of Saudi SMEs. The data sample includes all Saudi SMEs listed in Saudi main market, Tadawul. Based on the empirical results, the study determines the default predictors (variables) of Saudi SMEs. The developed model suggests that acid-test ratios are most affecting credit default of Saudi SMEs. Lastly, the paper puts recommendations and suggests several future studies.
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Shariah-compliant Five-factor Pricing ModelThe development of Islamic finance necessitates the availability of shariah-compliant asset pricing models that capture the relevant sources of systematic risk for which investors must be compensated. This study extends Fama and French (2015) five-factor model by replacing risk-free rate with return on AAA Sukuk and the market portfolio factor with Shariah-compliant market portfolio. The model was tested using ten-year monthly data from 2007 to 2016 on non-financing firms listed on Saudi Stock exchange. The model inputs were returns on mimicking portfolios that proxy for the relevant underlying sources of risk that affect cross-section of returns. Excluding market portfolio factor, the independents portfolios were obtained from double sort of the listed firms on size and each of book-to-market value, profitability, and investment; the dependent portfolios were created from the double sort of firms on size and book- to-market value. For estimation, generalized method of moments was applied. The test results indicate that all factors in the model explain returns on small size portfolios, while in case of on big size; high BM only investment factor was found significant in explaining the returns. The model of this study is expected to provide investors with a robust tool in investigating the sources of systematic risk and make investment decisions based on their risk-return preferences.
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Shari‘ah harmonization in financial reporting standardizationThe concept by Shariah harmonization in financial reporting standard Would be advantageous for Saudi Arabian banking system. This study aims at analyzing the perception of stakeholders in Saudi Arabian banks. The study Also examines the perception of insiders and outsiders of the banks about Islamic financial reporting standards by answering the statements on the factors : Shariah harmonization efforts for Islamic bank in financial reporting standard , Shariah harmonization as an important criterion to have single financial reporting standard, and choice between Shariah harmonization of practice de facto over harmonization of rules de jure. The data for the study was collected through administration of close –end questionnaire ( survey) and the responses of 110 respondents was used in data analyzing using ANOVA. The results of the study reveal that these is no significant difference in the perception of insiders and outsiders about all the factors included in this study .However , the respondents recognize the need for a framework for Islamic financial standards and for a unified fatwa for the banks .In addition, they disagree with the adoptions of IFRS by the Islamic banks. The finding of this study can be used by policy makers and banks managers to reshape the banking system according to the aspirations of the stakeholders .
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Macroeconomic Impact of Islamic Bank Financing in Saudi ArabiaIslamic banking is a fast growing segment of the financial system in Saudi Arabia and has effects on the economic performance of a great importance to the economic growth. This study is to assist bridging an existing research gap of exploring how the Islamic banking helps the macroeconomic growth of K.S.A. The study mainly to employe the statistical analysis to investigate the macroeconomic impact of Islamic bank financing (IBF) in the Saudi economy from the year of 2001 to 2017 by looking into independent variables of the IBF and the total financing against the macroeconomic factors: gross domestic product, gross fixed capital formation, inflation, international trade, and unemployment. The analyzed data are obtained from Bankscope websites, Bloomberg and International Monetary Fund (IMF) databases. The main results from the Vector Auto Regression (VAR) model in the E-views show both of the TF and IBF have an impact on GFCF, but not on the inflation. The IBF effects on the unemployment, the international trade, and with no significant effect on the GDP growth. Although, the TF data of the growth equation show an influence on GDP growth and international trade.
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Pattern of Volatility Transmission with Regime Switching: CASE OF GCCThis paper examines volatility transmission patterns with seven stock markets of countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Dubai and Abu-Dhabi), and these markets with the two global markets (S&P 500 index, and Oil-WTI prices), using the Multi-Chain Markov Switching (MCMS) model. This method is able to distinguish and differentiate between well diverse transmission patterns including volatility spillover, interdependence, and independence, given changes from high to low volatility regimes and vice-versa. The results display that there are different transmission patterns between the GCC and the global factors, and there is strong relationship between some of the GCC markets and the global equity markets rather than the oil markets. These patterns of volatility transmission are also highly sensitive to the regimes of the selected markets which are characterized by turmoil or tranquility. For the first global market (Oil-WTI), the results show a strong interdependence between Oil and S&p500, Kuwait, Abu-Dhabi, Dubai and Saudi Arabia markets. Furthermore, there is spillover from Oil-WTI to Abu-Dhabi, Dubai and Saudi Arabia markets. And the significant result display that there is independence between Dubai and Bahrain, and Kuwait and Dubai markets. For the second global market (the U.S. S&P 500 index), the results show strong interdependence with WTI, Dubai, Qatar and Oman. There is also spillover from the S&P 500 index to Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Bahrain. More remarkable result that we find spillover from Qatar to the S&P 500 index. Finally, we display results in terms of inference on the regimes of high and low volatility, allowing for the interpretation of the financial shocks and the dates in which they are transmitted from one market to another.
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Are Islamic equity indices more volatile than their conventional counterparts? Evidence from GCC S&P index familyThis study compares the volatility of S&P GCC Composite Shariah index with conventional benchmarks from Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. The main goal is to provide evidence from a new index family whether investors who invest in Islamic equity are sacrificing performance or not. Orthogonal Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (OGARCH) (1,1), (1,2), (2,1) and (2,2) framework is employed on daily returns data for the period of April 2007 to March 2018. The results show that S&P GCC Composite Shariah Index has similar risk profile as its conventional counterpart the S&P GCC Composite Index and that investors who wish to invest in Islamic securities are not significantly worse off than those who choose non-Islamic securities and will not sacrifice financial performance
