Coral reefs around the world are at risk from overexploitation and climate change, and coral reefs of the Red Sea are no exception. Science-based designation of marine protected areas (MPAs), within which human activities are restricted, has become a popular method for conserving biodiversity, restoring degraded habitats, and replenishing depleted populations. The aim of this project was to explore adaptable methods for designing locally-manageable MPAs for various conservation goals near Thuwal in the central Saudi Arabian Red Sea while allowing human activities to continue. First, the potential for using simple spatial habitat distribution metrics to aid in designing MPAs that are well-connected with larval supply was explored. Results showed that the degree of habitat patchiness may be positively correlated with realized dispersal distances, making it possible to space MPAs further apart in patchier habitats while still maintaining larval connectivity. However, this relationship requires further study and may be informative to MPA design only in the absence of spatially-explicit empirical dispersal data. Next, biological data was collected, and the spatial variation in biomass, trophic structure, biodiversity, and community assemblages on Thuwal reefs was analyzed in order to inform the process of prioritizing reefs for inclusion in MPA networks. Inshore and offshore reef community assemblages were found to be different and indicated relatively degraded inshore habitats. These trends were used to select species and benthic categories that would be important to conserve in a local MPA. The abundances of these “conservation features” were then modeled throughout the study area, and the decision support software “Marxan” was used to design MPA networks in Thuwal that included these features to achieve quantitative objectives. While achieving objectives relevant to fisheries concerns was relatively more challenging, results showed that it is possible to design a local MPA that achieves fisheries and biodiversity goals simultaneously. However, future work should focus on expanding the biological dataset and on acquiring socio-economic data in order to formulate a comprehensive local management plan.

La présente thèse étudie à la fois les réalités de la présence chrétienne en Mésopotamie ainsi que l’image que les chrétiens se sont données d’eux-mêmes. Installé sur les rives du Tigre et de l’Euphrate, le christianisme de l’empire perse s’est diffusé à l’ombre d’un pouvoir non chrétien, comme dans l’empire romain. Toutefois les destinées des deux christianismes, celui d’Occident et celui d’Orient, se sont séparées lorsque l’empire romain est devenu chrétien. Les chrétiens de la Mésopotamie sassanide ont dû alors osciller entre l’hostilité franche du pouvoir et les périodes de tolérance jusqu’à la chute de la dynastie au milieu du VIIe siècle. Le christianisme mésopotamien fut caractérisé par une forme de diversité à la fois linguistique et religieuse, marqué par la porosité avec les autres groupes, contre laquelle les autorités religieuses n’ont cessé de délimiter des frontières claires. Il s’est progressivement étendu à l’ensemble des couches de la société sassanide, jusqu’aux élites dirigeantes, et jusqu’aux campagnes. Alors, une production littéraire et historiographique d’ampleur a contribué à la formation d’un portrait cohérent et linéaire dans la documentation syro-orientale dominante, issue de l’Église de l’Est. Ailleurs, des mémoires divergentes des chrétiens de Perse nous sont parvenues. / This dissertation looks at both the realities of the Christian presence in Mesopotamia and how the Christians constructed their own image. Established on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, Christianity during the Persian Empire it developed under a shadowy non-Christian power, as with the case with the Roman Empire. However, the fate of Western and Eastern Christianities diverged when the Roman Empire became Christian. In Sasanian Mesopotamia, the treatment of Christians wavered between direct hostility from Zoroastrian power and periods of tolerance, until the fall of the dynasty in the middle of the 7th century. A form of linguistic and religious diversity characterized Mesopotamian Christianity. The lines between Christians and the other communities were narrow, which caused religious authorities to draw clear boundaries between Christians and non-Christians. Christianity expanded into the whole Sasanian society, including the peasantry and ruling elites. Therefore, after the 5th century, there was a large proliferation of East-Syrian literature and historiography, which had a key role in the development of the dominant Christian image within the Church of Persia. However, other literary traditions passed down different views of the Christians of Sasanian Mesopotamia.

This master thesis report presents a prefeasibility analysis for a Saudi Company to enter the solar industry.Section one of this report illustrates the value chain analysis and opportunity identification and evaluation process applied to CSP technology. Section two offers an example of a potential business case in hybrid-powered commercial irrigation.

Many developing countries are ardently seeking ways to encourage greater computer usage. But results have been disappointing. The slow diffusion is partially attributed to social factors. This study, based on a survey of 187 professionals, examined the efficacy of opinion leadership approach in accelerating the acceptance of computers in Saudi Arabia. Findings indicate that the approach has promise. Opinion leaders, who express greater satisfaction with computers, can be crucial as change agents in helping to reduce anxieties and dissonant feelings towards computers. Marketing strategy implications of the findings are discussed.

This paper examines the transferability of supermarkets into developing countries by using Saudi Arabia as a case in point. Results of an empirical study comparing the grocery shopping habits of Saudi and Western expatriates are presented. The paper provides insights into the diffusion of supermarkets among the local population in Saudi Arabia and offers strategies to facilitate the diffusion process.

Magister Legum - LLM / As a Muslim south African trained in South African Roman-Dutch law, I have been exposed to experiences/situations which indicate a conflict between the principles of South African Roman-Dutch law and Islamic law of succession. This has prompted me to do some research into the history of Islamic law, the spreading of Islamic law over large parts of the world and the question of the recognition and application of Islamic law in South Africa. The central theme of this study is the Islamic law of succession in so far as it affects women. Chapter One of my dissertation contains a brief historical background which outlines on the one hand, the nomadic society, women and succession in pre-Islamic Arabia and on the other, their improved position upon the advent of Islam {seventh century) . It ends with the historical background of Muslims in South Africa. Chapter Two is devoted to the marriage property background against which both the South African and Islamic law of succession operate. Thereafter, in Chapter Three, the South African law and Islamic law (substantive rules} of succession are compared. These include both intestate and testamentary succession, the latter being limited on the Islamic side. Chapter Four, with the backgrounds sketched in Chapters Two and Three, demonstrates the visible internal conflicts between the Islamic and South African law of marriage and succession as encountered in South African practice. After evaluating statistics and alternative solutions in this regard, and having arrived at certain conclusions, I propose that recommendations about the possible recognition and application of Muslim Personal Law in South Africa which is at present enjoying the attention of the South African Law Commission in Project 59 should see fruition and be implemented as it can only assist the society in closer inspection are riddled with controversies. Chapter Six explores the treatment received by a Muslim widow, daughter and mother in terms of their respective fixed "intestate" shares and its implications for modern twentieth century society. which we live since it is a vital aspect affecting our daily lives {and deaths!). Chapter Five covers the whole aspect of the Muslim testator or testatrix' s limited "freedom" of testation and reforms by certain forerunner countries in this regard which on closer inspection are riddled with controversies. Chapter Six explores the treatment received by a Muslim widow, daughter and mother in terms of their respective fixed "intestate" shares and its implications for modern twentieth century society.

Saudi women have higher rates of graduation from college than their male counterparts, but are underrepresented as employees in the private higher education sector. Saudi women working in higher education report a lack of involvement in the planning of their work, challenges in balancing family and career, and low wages. Yet, no research has explored how Saudi women in administrative support staff positions in private universities perceive control and how their perceptions of control affect their engagement in the workplace. Therefore, based on locus of control theory, the 2-process model of perceived control, and compensatory control theory, the purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of Saudi women administrative support staff working in private universities regarding the phenomena of workplace control and engagement. Ten female administrative support staff were selected using purposive and snowball sampling. Semistructured interviews were used to explore the lived experience of control for Saudi women administrative support staff and how their experiences influence engagement. The data were analyzed using Moustakas's steps to the phenomenological process. Eight core themes emerged from the data, including supervision and guidance, social relationships and connections, time, lack of predictability, adjustment of self to fit the environment, self-development and inner transformations, having a voice, and cultural conditioning of women's social roles. The implications for positive social change include raising awareness among management, human resources, and training specialists in private higher education of Saudi women's perceptions of control and engagement in the workplace.

abstract: Imagine you live in a place without any storm water or wastewater systems! Wastewater and storm water systems are two of the most crucial systems for urban infrastructure. Water resources have become more limited and expensive in arid and semi-arid regions. According to the fourth World Water Development Report, over 80% of global wastewater is released into the environment without adequate treatment. Wastewater collection and treatment systems in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) covers about 49% of urban areas; about 25% of treated wastewater is used for landscape and crop irrigation (Ministry of Environment Water and Agriculture [MEWA], 2017). According to Guizani (2016), during each event of flooding, there are fatalities. In 2009, the most deadly flood occurred in Jeddah, KSA within more than 160 lives lost. As a consequence, KSA has set a goal to provide 100% sewage collection and treatment services to every city with a population above 5000 by 2025, where all treated wastewater will be used. This research explores several optimization models of planning and designing collection systems, such as regional wastewater and stormwater systems, in order to understand and overcome major performance-related disadvantages and high capital costs. The first model (M-1) was developed for planning regional wastewater system, considering minimum costs of location, type, and size sewer network and wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The second model (M-2) was developed for designing a regional wastewater system, considering minimum hydraulic design costs, such as pump stations, commercial diameters, excavation costs, and WWTPs. Both models were applied to the Jizan region, KSA. The third model (M-3) was developed to solve layout and pipe design for storm water systems simultaneously. This model was applied to four different case scenarios, using two approaches for commercial diameters. The fourth model (M-4) was developed to solve the optimum pipe design of a storm sewer system for given layouts. However, M-4 was applied to a storm sewer network published in the literature. M-1, M-2, and M-3 were developed in the general algebraic modeling system (GAMS) program, which was formulated as a mixed integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) solver, while M-4 was formulated as a nonlinear programming (NLP) procedure. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering 2019

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