A comparative study of temperatures of direct sunlight and air temperatures in a standard screen measured at Doha International Airport - a pilot study

An observational campaign was conducted at Doha International Airport, Arabian Gulf to find out difference between air temperature in a standard screen and direct sunlight. Hourly observations recorded during July-August 1998 and June-August 1999 formed the basis of the study. Difference between screen temperature (ST) and outside temperature (OT) in respect of all hourly data in the above period from 0600 to 1800 hrs of local time have been computed and analysed. In order to examine the difference before sunrise and after sunset, observations were also made during 1900-0500 hrs of local time from 1st to 18th of July 1998. Results of the study revealed that the magnitude of the differences between OT and ST is not as high as expected. The highest difference observed was 5.1° C on 16th July 1999 at 0900 hr. As anticipated, the temperature of direct sunlight between 0600 hr and 1700 hr were always higher than the screen temperature. However, after 0500 pm of local time, the screen temperatures are found to be higher than outside temperature though the sunset time in these months are after 0600 pm. The mean difference between ST and DT in June, July and August respectively found to be 1.43° C, 1.53° C and 1.67° C. The highest difference observed in these months was 3.8° C, 5.1° C and 4.1° C respectively. The study has also indicated that the difference between OT and ST is generally higher during 0900-1000 hrs of local time and lower during two hours before sunrise and sunset.

A narrative inquiry into the resettlement of armed forces personnel in the Arabian Gulf: a model for successful transition and positive mental well-being

Background: The study sought to explore the lived experiences of individuals having served in the Armed Forces of Saudi Arabia, as they made the transition to civilian life and sought new employment opportunities. Methods: Researchers carried out qualitative research in the form of narrative inquiry. Narratives were collected from eleven in-depth interviews conducted in Saudi Arabia in 2021, allowed for insight into participant experiences. Existing literature on military retirement was also investigated. Results: Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed concurrently using thematic analysis to identify patterns or themes. The researchers adopted thematic synthesis as an analytical framework though which descriptive themes from the literature on military retirement were generated. Overall, this approach allowed for the comparison of themes in literature with those of narrative interviews. Conclusion: The study identified challenges encountered by veterans during the resettlement and transitional phase from military to civilian life. There was a general consensus, however, that military life equips individuals with valuable skills that are transferrable to successful post-military employment, known as Positive Transferable Adaptability for Employability (PTAE), (Mottershead, 2019), which can greatly empower those making the transition. These findings led the researchers to develop a new model for veteran career paths that meet the contemporary employment needs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: the REVERE Transition Model, which identifies six career paths.

Exploring the GCC Progress Towards United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

The United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals were agreed in 2015 by all the members' countries to be achieved by 2030. The results of several reports reveal that some countries are making good progress to achieve these goals, the progress of others is low and most likely they will not be able to achieve these goals by the deadline if serious actions are not taken. The purpose of this article is to explore the progress of the Arabian Gulf region towards these goals and identify the Goals in which the region has major challenges. A qualitative research approach using PRISMA compliance is adopted to extract the region's progress and commitment from 91 different documents. The results show that the region has major challenges in four Goals. Specific issues associated with these goals and the GCC countries plans to overcome these issues are discussed in the paper.

Juveniles and larvae of eleven fish species collected from three countries of the Arabian Gulf and the Arabian Sea

The finding of larval and juvenile specimens from the Omani coast of the Arabian Sea and the Arabian Gulf waters of Saudi Arabia and Iraq is reported for the first time. Based on available information, one larva was a leptocephalus, Conger sp. (family Congridae) and one larva of an acronurus stage belonging to the genus Acanthurus (family Acanthuridae). Also juveniles of the following families are included in the present study: Clupeidae – Tenualosa ilisha (Hamilton, 1822) and Nematalosa sp.; Dactylopteridae – Dactyloptena orientalis (Cuvier, 1829); Gobiidae – Acentrogobius sp.; Bothidae – Arnoglossus aspilos (Bleeker, 1851); Scatophagidae – Scatophagus argus (Linnaeus, 1766); Sparidae – Acanthopagrus arabicus Iwatsuki, 2013 and Sparidentex hasta (Valenciennes, 1830); Tetraodontidae – Lagocephalus sp. The discovery of the barred rather than spotted juveniles of S. argus collected from pure freshwater environment of the Shatt al-Arab River, Basrah, Iraq was remarkable; it raises questions whether there is more than one species within the nominal S. argus. For both larvae and juveniles of bothid flounders, the olfactory organ is a useful character for the examination of the developmental stage of the metamorphosing specimens. The occurrence of the different early life history stages of fishes from the three Arabian countries shows the needs them to be studied further so that inferences about the areas and periods of spawning and development of these fishes can be made more accurately.

MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION OF ANISAKID NEMATODES HYSTEROTHYLACIUM SPECIES FROM JAPANESE THREADFIN BREAM NEMIPTERUS JAPONICUS (BLOCH, 1791) (PERCIFORMES, NEMIPERIDAE) FROM IRAQI MARINE WATER FISH

The present study provides a new insight into valuable information on the diverse structure of the Anisakid population and discusses the limited species richness in the Nemipterus japonicus (Bloch,1791) (Perciformes, Nemiperidae). The fishing area consists of various locations in the Arabian Gulf (29°58 0 33 00 N48°28 0 20 E). A total of 315 marine fish were examined, (n=287) were infected. Larval stages (n= 763) encysted within the mesenteries peritoneum and viscera of fish organs were isolated, with a prevalence of 91.11% of infection and, the intensity was 2.65. Molecular analysis was carried out on thirty individuals who have examined the morphology and showed some appearance differences, by amplifying internal transcribed spacers ITS and ITS-1 of nuclear rDNA (rDNA) by PCR using the primer sets NC5/NC2 and SS1/NC13R of thirteen DNA products. Evolutionary analyses were conducted in MEGA X. based on the identity percentage in the GenBank database showed that they belong to anisakid nematodes, in particular, they belong to eleven distinct taxa within the Hysterothylacium Ward & Magath, 1917 (Rhabditida, Raphidascarididae) and one identified species H. amoyense (Hsü, 1933) Deardorff & Overstreet, 1980. The current study records eleven species that belong to a genus of Hysterothylacium; some of the alignment of sequences polymorphisms reveals new different individuals of larvae species that may be adopted as new species if their adult stage is detected, and N. japonicus fish considered as a new host record. The current study provides some insights on the systematic taxonomy of these parasites, in addition, it supports similar studies that have been published elsewhere.