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Muammar Qaddafi's downfall arguably came as a surprise to many given that he had been able to successfully run a personalist regime from 1969 to 2011. This paper examines the factors that led to Qaddafi's downfall and seeks to determine which ones can be primarily credited with causing the end of his rule. The paper theorizes that there are four main factors that led to Qaddafi's downfall: a) governance, b) military, c) media, and d) international intervention. It argues that governance and the military proved to be a source of strength up until the Arab Spring--which was an exogenous shock in itself. Out of the four variables, the paper also finds that during the Arab Spring, the external intervention proved to be a detrimental factor for the Qaddafi regime as it destroyed the military apparatus. The protests also brought to the fore the polarization and grievances of the people that had been simmering under the wraps of the personalistic governance model of Qaddafi. Thus, the Arab Spring converted governance and military from sources of strength into sources of weakness, thereby contributing towards Qaddafi's downfall. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rock-cut tombs of Cyrene's Northern Necropolis have survived to the present day in a pitifully ruinous state because of the looting that has taken place since antiquity and because of their frequent re-use as dwellings or stables. An important archive of typewritten reports, photographs, sketches, and correspondence pertaining to this necropolis is preserved principally in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and documents the first officially-sanctioned archaeological excavation at Cyrene. This was conducted by an American archaeological mission lead by Richard Norton from October 1910 to the end of April 1911 and was jointly sponsored by the Archaeological Institute of America and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The documents, particularly those that chronicle the excavation of four tombs and their associated finds, represent an important resource for our understanding of the history of the exploration of this necropolis. They not only offer information on individual monuments, but they also illustrate the typological range of artefacts selected for funerary ritual from the late Classical period into the second century AD, but principally during the Hellenistic period. Additionally, the documents reveal particular funerary practices, such as the successive re-use of tombs that took place at least from the late Hellenistic period onwards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Scientific publication is a vital mission of medical schools and it is important to periodically document how well schools fulfil this mission., Aims: This study aimed to analyse the publication record of Libyan medical schools in international journals indexed in PubMed between 1988 and 2007., Methods: Medline was searched using PubMed for publications affiliated to Libya during 1988-2007., Results: Out of 417 papers related to Libya, 348 (84%) are affiliated to the medical schools and related hospitals. More than 60% of the 348 papers are affiliated to Al-Arab Medical University, Benghazi, while Al-Fateh Medical University, Tripoli, contributed 103 papers (30%). The rest of the papers (n=25, 7%) were published by medical schools in other parts of the country. The publication rate declined by 3% annually between 1988 and 2007. The decline was mainly due to a decrease in the publication rate by Al-Arab Medical University, Benghazi. Overall, nine departments produced 10 or more papers each. Out of about 1675 staff members, there are only 148 first authors and 207 last authors. The estimated annual publication rate is 0.7 papers per 100 academic staff members., Conclusion: This study reveals that published scholarship of the Libyan medical schools is extremely low, that the publication rate has declined, and that most academic staff have no publications listed in PubMed. This issue needs urgent attention.

This paper is interested in the role and function of memories in United Nations Security Council debates about humanitarian intervention. It posits that historical experiences and their lessons serve as interpretative devices for the abstract international norms and principles under discussion. The paper speaks of 'international memories' where the meaning and lessons derived from the past coalesce among a group of states. Empirically, its case study explores how the memories of totalitarianism/fascism and colonialism were employed in United Nations (UN) representatives' verbal pleas to intervene in Libya and Syria after the Arab Spring. It finds that those who supported or opposed humanitarian intervention held different interpretations of these memories and their lessons. In each case, however, memories provided essential normative guidance to states when it came to implementing the abstract international principles, norms, and rights that underlie humanitarian intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, there has been a growing interest in distributed generation (DG) technologies, driven by various factors such as fuel price uncertainties, environmental constraints, and increasing power consumption along with transmission capacity shortages, in modern power systems. DG, which involves utilizing clean and renewable energy sources for power generation within the distribution system, has gained significant attention globally. Many developing countries, including Libya, are considering the adoption of DG technologies as part of their energy system expansion plans. Libya, located in North Africa and characterized by vast desert lands, has abundant solar radiation, making solar energy a promising and sustainable source of power. However, despite this energy potential, the southern part of Libya faces frequent power outages. In order to effectively maintain service quality, it is essential to conduct quantitative evaluation of wireless sensor networks. the evaluation of wireless sensor networks involves addressing the multiple attribute group decision-making (MAGDM) problem. To tackle the challenges of MAGDM, an extension of the classical EDAS (Evaluation based on Distance from Average Solution) method is proposed in this paper. The proposed method incorporates interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy sets (IVIFSs), which provide a more flexible and comprehensive representation of uncertainty, to handle the complexities of MAGDM. The paper begins with a brief review of essential concepts related to IVIFSs. Then, the weights of attributes are determined using the CRITIC method. Subsequently, the IVIF-EDAS method is established by integrating the EDAS method with IVIFSs, and all the calculation procedures are described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cathodic protection (CP) is the most effective method for protecting petroleum facilities against corrosion. As part of this protection, care should be taken to continuously evaluate the existing system in order to maintain the system in favorable conditions. The subject of the paper's research is an oil plant for the transportation of oil derivatives located at the Brega company in Tobruk, Libya. In the present work, a case study on how to evaluate the CP system for an existing company for petroleum transportation is considered. The procedure was planned in three steps. The first step is a historical survey of the CP system from when the company started. The second was a diagnostic analysis study of the problem and how to fix it along the system. The third is the conclusions and recommendations regarding the measures for evaluating the CP system without stopping production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the debate on how harmful online content translates into violent offline actions continues in the Global North, this debate should be enriched by data from the Global South. In Libya, the kidnapping of a female politician (Seham Sergiwa) in 2019 was arguably foreshadowed on social media, with some analysts warning of an imminent danger to her life when tracking social media discourse in June/July 2019. Following her abduction, the outcry was loud and reverberated outside of Libya. However, this was short lived and similar occurrences happen in Libya still. This paper contributes a systematic analysis of Facebook content in the months leading up to and after Sergiwa's disappearance. Using thematic content analysis to explore 259 posts and 4,367 comments – between January and December 2019 – this paper outlines three dominant themes: Contempt, ridicule and indifference. This study presents a refocus on the dangers of online speech while acknowledging complexities around categorising the former. The study adds nuanced understandings on online discussions in Libya and gendered dynamics in a violent, post-revolutionary environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Millennium (03058298) is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Legally Libyan women are entitled to inherit land, yet many women are discouraged by family members from claiming their inheritance. This paper explores this discrepancy between norms and practices, by first offering a general legal, historical, and cultural context of women’s rights to land and inheritance in Libya. Then, it details the case of one elderly woman, Um Aliz. Like many Libyan women, she initially felt that she ought not claim her right to inherit land. But in recent years, Um Aliz has changed her mind due to her deteriorating health, children’s encouragements, relatives’ pioneering efforts to claim their rightful inheritance, society’s changing ideas on women’s land rights, and rising land prices. Although Um Aliz’s justice journey is not complete, she has ended her silence and the case has entered the court system. Together with reflections from legal professionals, Um Aliz’s case illustrates the limits of legal reform and the persistence of inheritance practices which are legitimised by reference to tradition. Yet the paper also suggests that amidst great and worrying societal turbulence some Libyan women are emboldened to claim their inheritance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: There has been a global increase in the prevalence of common mental disorders (CMD), particularly in conflict hotspots. The limited amount of resources is one of the key barriers to effective treatment within Low- and Middle-income countries (LAMICs). The lack of service provision for mental health disorders in LAMICs has resulted in limited opportunities to conduct mental health research. Libya is a North African country that has suffered from ongoing conflict with the current political unrest in Libya further impacting the mental health of the population. Main text: The aim of this review is to conduct a synthesis of evidence regarding the estimated prevalence and associated risk factors of CMD in Libya. A search was completed in the academic databases; PubMed, Medline, EMBASE, PsychINFO, CINHAL, and the Institute for Development, Research, Advocacy and Applied Care (IDRAAC) from inception to March 2020. Only studies that investigated prevalence and associated risk factors of CMD in Libya were included. A total of 219 studies were identified of which 15 met the inclusion criteria for the review. There were (n = 3) papers investigated the prevalence of depression, (n = 4) studies were focused on stress-related disorders and the remaining papers looked at both anxiety and depression. Statistically, sample sizes of the included studies ranged from (n = 41–13,031) for the prevalence studies (mean = 1188.6, median = 233). Conclusion: The status of Libya as a conflict hotspot has led to a reduced level of epidemiological data on mental health, with a vital need to conduct research in CMD. Libya requires better clinical governance which can allow for more scientific research into CMD and enabling the Libyan government to develop evidence-based policy initiatives for CMD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to introduce Qard Hasan (benevolent loan) as a sound substitute for the low-interest social loans that were abolished since the adoption of the full-fledged Islamic banking system in Libya. The paper reviews the literature for the prevailing practices of Qard Hasan and afterward focuses on the case of Libya in order to propose a new approach that may be more convenient for implementing Qard Hasan in the Libyan banking industry. The paper finds that non-profitability and lack of sufficient funding are mainly the reasons why Qard Hasan is not significantly practiced and therefore took its stereotype characteristic as an ethical subject. Thus, the proposed framework is designed to deal with these issues so that Islamic banks in Libya can significantly substitute Qard Hasan for the interest-based Social Loans. The proposed approach may help bridge the gap between conventional and Islamic banking by providing cash to their customers in the form of Qard Hasan without affecting their loanable fund. Locally, the applicability of the proposed framework is expected to support the transition to an Islamic banking system in Libya and deepens public satisfaction with Islamic banking services. Unlike the prevailing experiences and practices that try to encourage Qard Hasan through public funds and charity, this paper proposes regulatory adjustments to facilitate Qard Hasan provision and hence instrumentalize Qard Hasan as a liquidity management and monetary policy tool as well as compensate Social Loan seekers with a Shariah compliant social loans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on interviews with young Libyan professionals carried out between 2017 and 2018, this paper examines their role as agenda-setters in international organizations operating in their country since 2011. The growing foreign demand for local expertise after the fall of the old regime was met mostly by the young activists who had helped organize the 2011 uprisings. For foreign organizations, Libyan youth have come to embody brokers, fixers, go-betweens, and persons-in-between, becoming key supporting actors in international project implementation. Despite the opportunities seemingly afforded by the collapse of the old regime, this paper shows that Libyan youth, torn between desires for political change and professional advancement, have struggled to influence the agendas of international organizations, leading to feelings of disenfranchisement. The transformative capacity of international projects is thus often limited by this new class of young, globalized elites who are disengaged from the local needs and realities facing Libyan civil society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, closer Turkish-Russian relations have captured the attention of both academics and policymakers, but also seem rather paradoxical as the two countries find themselves on opposite sides of conflicts in Syria, Libya, and the Caucuses. This paper evaluates how effective neo-realist (structural) and ideational (constructivist) theories of international relations are in explaining the Turkish-Russian relationship. Ultimately, this paper finds more merit in accounts grounded in neo-realism that can capture aspects of both cooperation and conflict/competition in the relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research into the relationship between terrorism and the media traditionally has treated news media as conduits for the terrorist, and responsible for increased terrorist activity. Rather than assessing how television news benefits terrorists, this study identifies ways that news coverage aids media organizations and incumbent governments. The analysis, based on ABC news coverage of terrorist incidents broadcast between Reagan's 1981 inauguration and the 1986 U.S. bombing of Libya, examines ABC's use of the romantic quest as a narrative frame for terrorist acts. Features characterizing ABC News narratives include: the casting of top government officials as paper tigers, the formation of video post-cards of hostages to mobilize viewer emotions, and speculation about the desirability of military intervention. The overarching melodramatic imperative that structures news narratives privileges military responses to foreign adversaries but does not enhance understanding of political crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Academic Social Science Studies is the property of Journal of Academic Social Science Studies and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose - The paper aims to report on a research project that explores the extent and scope of scientific publishing, communication, and collaboration amongst Libyan scientists. Design/methodology/approach - The paper commences with a literature review on scientific communication and publishing, including a specific focus on such activities in developing countries. A bibliometric analysis of the papers published by scientists in research centres affiliated to Libya's National Centre for Scientific Research was conducted in order to investigate the extent and nature of scholarly communication of Libyan scientists. Findings - Libyan scientists are a community that works in research teams, largely comprised of scientists in Libya, but, which, on the other hand, is actively disseminating the findings of its research to a wider international audience. This is evident from the publications of 45 per cent of papers in English, and a significant level of publication in countries outside Libya. Further, the extent to which publication is through conferences and symposia is evidence of engagement in informal communication within and beyond the scientific community in Libya. Originality/value - This is the first study of scientific publishing and communication activities in Libya. It offers useful insights into a variety of aspects of communication and dissemination of research findings. As such it provides a useful contribution towards understanding the potential impact of new models of scholarly publishing, both in Libya, and in other developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article deals with the role of photographic documentation in conservation efforts. Using the example of Islamic sites in Libya, historic inn buildings located in Ukraine and Poland, the centres of Polish historic cities destroyed during World War II, and the monuments of Ukraine destroyed during the period of "militant atheism," World War II, and the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war, it is proven that often photographic documentation of objects becomes the main source of information about destroyed or damaged objects. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the value of photographic documentation for conservation and preservation efforts. The authors point out that it can also be used for eye-tracking studies of visual perception of conservation objects, both by local communities, i.e., nonprofessionals in the field of architecture, as well as perception by architects and conservators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political instability has been a mainstay in Libya since the Italian occupation in 1911. In the intervening years, the shifting political landscape has had an undeniable influence on the presence of English in the country. In this paper, I argue that Libya presents an ideal case study for Kachru's Concentric Circles of English, where 'linguistic ammunition' (Kachru, 1986: 121) is used to manipulate and control the masses and spread anti‐Western sentiment in this expanding circle country. To provide a much‐needed socio‐historical context for a country whose English language and linguistic history remains understudied (Hillman et al., 2020), this paper touches on key events in Libya's political history that have influenced the status of English and language use; from the Italian colonization, to Qaddafi's decade‐long ban of English, to the 2011 Revolution, and beyond. This paper is divided into six sections: (1) critical approaches to language policy (Tollefson, 1991) and Foucault's governmentality approach (1991); (2) demographic and geographic description of Libya; (3) historical and political overview; (4) educational language policy and the development of the education system; (5) English language policy in Libya (the ban on use of English in 1986 following the 1969 coup that brought Qaddafi to power and the reintroduction of English in the mid‐1990s); and will conclude with (6) English language in post‐Qaddafi Libya. Understanding these key moments in Libyan political history will provide the context needed to understand how a generation of Libyans found themselves without the linguistic skills necessary to compete in the global economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the constitutive impact of the 'international' on the sociopolitical transformations in Syria and Libya through the lens of the theory of Uneven and Combined Development (UCD). The conventional and numerous critical analyses of Syrian and Libyan sociopolitical change suffer from a Eurocentric and stagist understanding of development. This paper argues that development problems can be better conceptualized with an interactive framework made possible by the UCD theory. In this context, we focus on how the expansion and consolidation of capitalism through the dynamics of UCD have concretely shaped the process of sociopolitical transformation in Syria and Libya to shed light on how the international and the local have articulated to produce the socioeconomic and political outcomes in these two states. We conclude by arguing that the theory of UCD provides an alternative conceptualization in explaining the specific development trajectories in both countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Arab Future is the property of Centre for Arab Unity Studies and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper explores the prisoner's dilemma in the context of interactions between Libya's Tripoli- and Tobruk-led actors in the period between Gaddafi's 2011 ousting and the 2015 Libyan Political Agreement. In so doing, it reveals the extent to which Libyan decisions aligned with the game's principal outcome-maximizing strategy to ascertain authority and a non-outcome-maximizing strategy's conflict resolution-throughcooperation goal. In contrast to the game's assumptions, however, the findings convey how negotiations between the two players were driven by contextual factors, predominantly: Libya's historical makeup, internal-external links, and hydrocarbon control. This informs my contention that the complexities of the Libya case study demonstrate the limits of the prisoner's dilemma in illuminating the dynamics of a given political phenomenon. As a result, this account presents a novel Libya-specific blueprint of the prisoner's dilemma that highlights the limitations of this framework and concludes with a reflection on what this means for understanding this type of game. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose novel transdisciplinary STEAM practices to enable students and teachers to model architecture using technology. Architectural modelling can foster students' mathematical knowledge and computational thinking while connecting them to other disciplines such as culture and history. Our study focuses on enabling architectural, cultural, and historical diversity in educational practices. Moreover, the study tries to foster participants' modelling skills and innovative technology use as augmented reality and 3D printing. Thus, this paper will describe three case studies from Austria, Libya, and Indonesia and how these STEAM practices were used in different ways to allow participants to express their diversities through modelling diverse architectural constructions cross-culturally. We followed a qualitative data analysis approach for the participants' interviews, questionnaires and artefacts including architectural modelling, disciplines connections and lesson plans. The data analysis resulted in emerging themes emphasizing STEAM practices' possibilities to connect architecture to culture and history and highlighting the participants' cultural diversities in each of the three case studies.

Since 2013, the relations between the two biggest conventional military powers of the Middle East became very hostile. The Egyptian-Turkish tensions affected not just the bilateral dimension, but Libya, the Eastern Mediterranean, and other regions too. Moreover, in 2020, there were signs of possible direct military conflict between Ankara and Cairo. This did not happen and the rapprochement slowly but steady developed: in 2022, the leaders of the two countries met with each other and shook hands. Yet before this paper was finalised, however, there were still plenty of questions hanging over a possible Egyptian-Turkish rapprochement. There is no doubt that normalisation has started between Ankara and Cairo in recent years, but its outcome remains uncertain. In summary: this paper strives to present the recent history of Egyptian-Turkish relations since the outbreak of the so-called Arab Spring, the main points of the regional "cold war" between Ankara and Cairo, and in the end, the remaining pitfalls of rapprochement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing recognition of SMEs' role in economic growth necessitates the need for academic research into understanding this sector. However, academic work on how to research SMEs, especially in developing countries, is scarce. This has limited the further development of literature in this area. This paper reflects on the experiences of two doctoral students engaged in SME research in developing countries, namely Libya and Morocco. The paper presents the authors' experiences with special focus on the fieldwork stage from which some lessons and practical guidance are shared. Drawing on their experiences, the authors promote a more informal, casual approach when going in the field, and recruiting firms through snowball sampling. Moreover, to achieve high response rates, researchers should use a drop and collect method that allows personal interaction with participants to distribute the questionnaire. Working as a team with well-trained assistants would also be a wise decision. It is hoped that the content of the paper will provide students and researchers embarking on SME research in developing contexts with beneficial guidance on the execution of their fieldwork. Researchers in this field are encouraged to share their experiences for more comprehensive understanding of this unique research arena in similar contexts and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to study recent approaches to peacemaking, particularly by Turkey and Russia, in a changing world and their implications for UN-led peace processes. The authors analyze the factors that allow parallel processes to UN mediation to emerge and discuss their influence. Design/methodology/approach: The paper presents two in-depth case studies of mediation in Syria and Libya, where the UN, as well as Russia and Turkey, were actively involved in peacemaking. Findings: The authors find that parallel processes to UN mediation emerge if the UN process does not show progress toward a negotiated settlement and other third parties have leverage over the conflict parties. However, whether these parallel processes pose a fundamental challenge to the UN-led process depends on how sustained the third parties' leverage over the conflict parties is. If it lasts, it puts the UN in a difficult position to either participate in the parallel process and contain it but thereby also legitimizing it, or to abstain from participating but thereby risking to lose control over the mediation process. Research limitations/implications: Analyzing different approaches to mediation helps to better understand current dynamics of multiparty mediation, including an increased questioning of the effectiveness of UN mediation, and provides insights on how the UN may adapt to keep its relevance in a changing world. Originality/value: The paper is based on original first-hand data gathered between 2018 and 2022 through more than 50 interviews with UN officials, negotiation team members, political and civil society actors from Syria and Libya, (former) state officials and experts from Russia and Turkey, as well as external observers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a preliminary conservation treatment of four pottery fragments excavated at Leptis, Libya manufactured in varied shapes, sizes, and colours. Studied objects were unearthed as sherds from two different conditions. Determination of the deterioration rates and caused factors of the pottery objects was significant to take the correct decision for conservation treatment. Results demonstrate that marine environment was more deteriorate than sandy soil. This work aims to characterize the chemical structure of pottery objects in the original environment using functional analyses. Mechanical cleaning was the first aid and safe step of conservation procedures. Desalination treatment was used for the long-term stabilization of the excavated pottery; then, internal stresses was decreased. Immersion in distilled water was efficient for decreasing water-soluble salts as halite. Insoluble water-salts were removed mechanically and chemically using dilute hydrochloric acid. Colour and thickness of the potsherds were the clues for the classification for assembling using a PVAc/CN mixture (1:1). Completely reconstruction of the excavated sherds was undertaken for understanding the occupation of the objects, then they were preserved in the storage. After desalination and assembling, painted iron stands were prepared for displaying the treated objects [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Arab Journal of Political Science is the property of Centre for Arab Unity Studies and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this research, the technical, economic and environmental feasibility of a gridconnected solar photovoltaic (PV) system for a single-family residential home in several Libyan cities with separate locations was studied. In Libya, the rate of electricity consumption is the largest in the domestic sector, with 60% of the total electricity consumption. Due to the frequent power outages in Libya, and the dependence of power generation mainly on traditional sources, pollution problems, and energy alternatives are an important priority. To overcome these problems, we propose maximizing the exploitation of renewable energy sources for energy production. In this paper, the HOMER Pro Renewable Energy Modeling Software was used to conduct a technical evaluation of a grid-connected solar PV system's economic viability, where the design was proposed for a residential house for six Libyan cities. The size of the PV system for a residential home is estimated at 15 kW. The findings indicated that the suggested design could supply 85% of the household's electrical requirements. AlKufra was the best location in terms of economics and the environment for a grid plus PV system, as the initial cost of the system was $9,570, the Cost of Energy (COE) was $0.0314, and the carbon dioxide emissions were 56,982 kg/year. Overall, lower prices for PV modules and PV components combined with long life, less maintenance needs, and minimum parity near the grid. The results show that PV systems connected to the residential grid are an effective energy management option in most Libyan cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on qualitative data from the civil wars in Syria and Libya since 2011, this paper seeks to build a better understanding of immobility and of displacement trajectories within conflict countries and towards neighbouring countries. The paper shows that different types of violent experiences—personal threats, generalized violence, an increasing hopelessness relating to the absence of violence in the future—trigger different exit movements across internal and external borders. Second, the analysis demonstrates that migration decisions in civil war contexts are complex processes with people balancing between strategies of how to avoid violence with strategies of how to realize broader life aspirations related to family, love, work and political change. Life aspirations often play a more important role once people move out of a situation of immediate danger and in later phases of trajectories and influence (im)mobility patterns in three different directions: stay, move (on) or return. Life aspirations, especially related to political change, outweigh perceptions of violence in some cases. Financial vulnerability can force people to stay in or return to violent contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses the synthetic control method to analyze the repercussions of the Arab Spring on the economic growth, corruption levels, and democracy of Tunisia and Libya. The study covered the years 2003–2018, and I utilized panel data from Tunisia, Libya, and 56 developing countries that were unaffected by the Arab revolution. I excluded countries with incomplete data, those directly impacted by the Arab Spring, and countries affected by external shocks like natural disasters or conflicts. All the data used in this analysis was obtained from the World Bank Open Data and the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) project. The findings indicate that the Arab Spring had adverse effects on economic growth in both Tunisia and Libya, in comparison to what would have been expected based on their synthetic control counterparts. On the other hand, the results demonstrate a significant increase in democracy and anti-corruption in both countries following the Arab Spring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Clinical features of rotavirus gastroenteritis vary from mild to severe and the prevalence of the disease is high in Eastern Mediterranean Region. The aim of this systematic review is to create solid evidence for the prevalence and clinical features of rotavirus among children under five years in Eastern Mediterranean Region. Methods: Several databases have been searched: MEDLINE, PubMed, ScienceDirect, google scholar and the Cochrane Library. In addition, the authors searched relevant organizations websites and, they went through grey literature search. A total of 3220 articles have principally traced. After excluding the irrelevant, ineligible, duplicated and very low-quality papers, only 10 studies were included in this review. Results: The highest prevalence rate of rotavirus in the Eastern Mediterranean Region countries was reported from Egypt by 76.9%1 followed by Bahrain by 44.8%2 then Jordan by 39.9%3 and it was less prevalent in Saudi Arabia and Sudan by 10% and 16% respectively4,5. Diarrhea, vomiting and fever were reported in high rates in most countries1-10, and in low rate in Saudi Arabia1. Dehydration was reported in Libya by 93.5%6, Bahrain by 95.3%2, Yemen by 59%10 and Egypt by 56%1. Conclusion: The prevalence of rotavirus in Eastern Mediterranean Region countries was ranged between 10% in Saudi Arabia to 76.9% in Egypt. Diarrhea, vomiting, and fever were more prevalent in many countries of the region while dehydration was mainly reported in Libya, Bahrain, and Egypt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cooperation between supply chain partners in the oil industry is essential, especially when oil prices suffer from fluctuations that affect the profitability of each party. An essential task in oil field development projects is to create an optimum agreement between the national oil company and the international oil company to guarantee agreement optimization. In this paper, the national oil company is the first party (FP) and the international oil company is the second party (SP). The paper's purpose is to investigate the use of game theory to obtain the best agreement between the FP and SP in order to enhance the cooperation and reduce conflict. In this paper, Nash and Maxi-min solutions have been applied for the first time in a special type of petroleum agreement, called exploration and production sharing agreements (EPSA). This is conducted for a case study in Libya. The study considers nine negotiation factors (issues) in the EPSA, which are the share percent, the four "A" factors, and the four "B" factors, which are usually affected by the fluctuations of oil prices; and the study investigates their effect on the total payoff function, the net present value (NPV), and internal rate of return (IRR) for both parties. The Maxi-min solution has shown an improvement in the NPV and IRR of the SP, where NPV increased from USD 148 million to USD 195 million, and IRR from 15.65% to 17.01%. The Nash solution has shown a little more improvement than the Maxi-min solution in the NPV and IRR for the SP, where the NPV and IRR have increased from USD 148 million to USD 222 million and from 15.65% to 17.94%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores an enormous elephant in the Mediterranean space: European security assistance's impact on the continuation of a global postcolonial order. We identify three core practices of security assistance that provides for postcolonial readings: externally producing 'the problem' and designing 'the solutions' to be tackled; linking the 'provider' and 'recipients' in material dependencies; and contestation as 'thin' adjustments rather than 'thick' resistance. Contrary to claims of functionalism, what we observe in contemporary European security assistance practice is consistent with postcolonial logics that produce distinct subjectivities and reproduce patterns of inequalities. European states – whether former colonial powers or not –use security assistance to structure the world in hierarchical ways. We argue that security assistance is not primarily about strategic effects but principally about signalling superiority and reproducing dependencies and colonizing/colonised mentalities. Moreover, security assistance practices reveal the need for security assistance – i.e. European SA presence often gets entangled with insecurity, and as such, security assistance practice makes the need for security assistance visible – a self-producing evidentiality that is as taken out of the colonial playbook. The paper explores constitutive processes at work by drawing on insights from British, French, Italian and Swedish approaches to security assistance in Libya and Lebanon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Molar incisor hypomineralisation (MIH) is a developmental enamel defect in the first permanent molars and frequently in the incisors. It poses a unique challenge to the dental practitioner because of its nature, clinical presentations and treatment strategies. Aim: This study assessed the perception of Libyan dentists in Benghazi regarding MIH and its management. Design: Paper‐based, self‐administered questionnaires were distributed to dentists in Benghazi, Libya. The questionnaires investigated the awareness of MIH, knowledge of MIH aetiology, clinical challenges of MIH treatment and choices of restorative management. Descriptive statistics, chi‐squared test and binary logistic regression analysis were performed at a significance level of ≤.05. Results: A total of 389 questionnaires were completed and analysed, giving an overall response rate of 76% (389/511). Most participants were female (85%, 332), with an average of 6.05 (SD = 6.24) years of experience. The majority of participants (67%) recognised MIH in their practice. Statistically significant differences in the awareness of MIH and its prevalence were observed according to the type of practice (p ≤.001) and experience of dentists (p ≤.001). Dentists working in public dental practice were less familiar with MIH and less likely to report it. Likewise, novice dentists were less aware of MIH than more experienced colleagues. The most reported aetiological factor in MIH was genetics by 60.2% of respondents, followed by environmental contamination (47.6%) and fluorides (42.9%). Most participants (92.3%) considered MIH a clinical problem. Aesthetics and diagnosis were the most reported challenging aspects (59.4% and 44.2%, respectively). The most commonly selected restorative options were high‐fluoride glass ionomer cement (43.2%) and preformed metal crowns (41.6%). Conclusion: The majority of participants reported awareness of the existence of MIH condition. Nevertheless, variations in estimating MIH prevalence and its proper treatment, as well as factors influencing its treatment and diagnosis, were recorded. It is recommended that the current dental curriculum is reviewed, and scientific evidence providing dental practitioners with updated information on the diagnosis and clinical management of MIH should be circulated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The short- and long-term volatility of oil and gas prices has a wide-ranging impact on both parties of petroleum contractual agreements, thus affecting the profitability of the project at any stage. Therefore, the government (first party) and the international oil company (second party) set the parameters of their contracts in a way that reduces the uncertainty. The effect of price fluctuations on economic indicators is investigated in this paper. The Taguchi method is used for the first time to find the best-agreement parameters, which are the "A" and "B" factors, in the standard Libyan agreement. There are four "A" components from "A1" to "A4", and four "B" components from "B1" to "B4". The purpose is to reduce the variability in the response variables, which are the company take (the percent of net cash flow for the international company) and average value of the second-party percent share of production (ASPS). The noise factors considered in this paper are oil, liquefied hydrocarbon byproduct (LHP), and gas prices. The method was applied to a case study of oil field development in Libya. The results showed that "A3" and "A4" were the most important control factors that affect the ASPS, while "B2" and "B3" are the most important factors affecting the company take. To obtain robust results, the most important factors to reduce variability were also determined. The effect of control parameters on the average NPV may be worth more than USD 22 MM in the 1-billion-barrel oilfield case study. The results showed that, for a given combination of "A" and "B" factors with a certain company take, the mean absolute deviation (MAD) of the NPV of the second party was reduced by 18% if the optimal combinations of the levels were used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper gives an appraisal on how post 2011 revolution Libya has descended into chaos. An overview of political impasse, shrinking economy and various armed groups and terrorist groups responsible for the existing mayhem has been given. Based on the obtaining environment and various indicators like Global Terrorism Index, the Ibrahim Index of African Governance, and Crisis Research Network, the situation of Libya has been analysed to determine whether it is a failed state or otherwise. Mired in an unenviable situation, the interests and leaning of various regional and extra regional adding fuel to the fire has also been elaborated. The paper culminates by recommending a way forward as a recipe for bringing Libya from the brink of disaster. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Generating electricity from renewable energy instead of fossil fuels brings great benefits to the environment and sustainable development. Thus, assessing the potential of wind and solar energy in agricultural coastal areas can identify sustainable energy solutions for meeting energy demand and producing fresh water for agricultural applications and domestic use. However, it is difficult to accurately assess the wind and solar energy potential in Libya due to the civil war, lack of measured data, and its limited availability. Consequently, this concise work is unique because it is the first to use daily measurement data from Az-Zāwiyah, Libya, for evaluating wind and solar energy based on one year of measured data for 2022. Moreover, the present study aims to investigate the potential of wind and solar energy as promising renewable sources for meeting energy demand in coastal agricultural regions in Libya using multiple datasets for the first time. In this paper, five satellite products (TerraClimate, ERA5, ERA5-Land, MERRA-2, and CFSR) were assessed and compared against measured data for January 2022–December 2022 to understand their suitability, accuracy, and reliability. The results showed that CFSR and ERA5-Land demonstrate the most favorable performance for assessing the wind resource, while all satellite products can be utilized for preliminary solar resource assessment. Then, the assessment of wind and solar resources was evaluated in five agricultural coastal regions (Aljmail, Az-Zāwiyah, Castelverde, Msallatah, and Sabratah) based on the best satellite product for the period of 2000–2022. Furthermore, the performance of the wind and solar power systems was investigated for typical farms, which were chosen to estimate the required energy demand according to daily electrical consumption. The results show that the positive outcomes of implementing these systems were highlighted, with an emphasis on their potential benefits to the entire Libyan agricultural sector. Accordingly, scaling up and generalizing the proposed systems and generalizing them to include all farms in Libya could have a significant impact on national electricity generation, mitigate greenhouse gases, and contribute to the development of the agricultural sector and the country's economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

THIS PAPER compares four indices; each index is designed to assess the cultural significance of plant species through the study of the goods provided by wild plants in the study area and the assessment of the Cultural Importance (CI) index, which reflects the cultural importance of wild plant usage. The results show that 94 species have a useful use (63.8% for medicinal use, 60.6% for beekeeping, 43.6% for fodder plants, 27.7% for human food, 8.5% as fuel and 2.1% in hand-made industries). The total CI of each category indicated that plants used in beekeeping are the most common among inhabitants (9.54), followed by medicinal use (9.46), and grazing (7.77), while hand-made was the least (0.27). Ziziphus lotus (total CI=1.22) had first rank in cultural using the four quantitative indices; CI, the relative frequency of citation (RFC), relative importance (RI) and cultural value (CV); with five number of uses (NU), 82 number of use reports (UR) and 41 frequency of citation (FC). There is a positive and significant relationship between the NU and FC (r = 0.876). At the same time, CI is significantly highly correlated with FC (r= 0.975), and CV was the most correlated with FC (r= 0.98). Despite the controversy surrounding the use of cultural significance indices, authors believe that indices based on interviews are the only way to fill passive knowledge about valuable plants. It is crucial to study the inhabitant's cultural uses of wild plants, to reflect their economic importance and the importance to be conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the geochemical studies of API gravity, content of asphaltenes and gross compositions were performed on samples from two crude oils collected in the Al Bayda Platform Area (Samah formation), central part of the Sirte Basin. The results showed that the fraction of saturates is the dominant fraction in oils in comparison to aromatics and NSO components, with high API gravity and low content of asphaltenes which indicates that the oils are mature, generated from marine organic sources and that they can be classified as light crude oils. The aim of this study is to provide evidence about precursor of organic material, depositional environment, and maturity of the studied oils. Saturated hydrocarbons were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry-mass spectrometry technique. Results indicates that the oil samples are originating from high marine organic matter phytoplankton and algae, with few terrestrial inputs, reflecting that oils can be sourced from siliciclastic, possibly marine shales deposited in a clayrich marine, deposited under intermediate conditions with high maturity. All results showed that the oil samples are similar in their characteristics, likely due to the migration pathways in the same region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on the evaluation of the economic viability of various scale wind farms and the assessment for the first time of the wind power potential of 22 locations distributed over Libya. The study utilizes monthly mean wind data collected from the NASA power dataset. The analysis includes determining and analyzing the mean wind speed, frequency distribution, and Weibull distribution scale and shape factors. The results showed that Darnah is the most promising location for insulation wind farms due to the high value of wind speed. Moreover, RETScreen software is used to estimate the energy output and conduct an economic feasibility analysis of the wind farm. Additionally, this paper establishes a relationship between the wake effect, airfoil losses, and the potential for greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation and the performance of wind farms. The results indicate that wind projects are economically viable when the EWT-DW 52 with a capacity of 500 kW is used. The study findings show that the wake effect is a crucial consideration in wind farm design, and it can be minimized through strategic spacing and turbine design. Furthermore, the accumulation of dirt and debris on wind turbine blades can significantly reduce a wind farm's energy output, causing turbine inefficiency and decreasing the overall energy production. Additionally, the energy production cost from a wind farm is less than that of the electricity tariff and can result in a profitable wind energy project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study area is the city of Zintan, in northwestern Libya, which has grown over the past 30 years. Its current population is roughly 30,000. Although the city is in part commercial, most of the population engages in agriculture and primarily grows cereal crops (wheat and barley). The demand of the growing city for agricultural products has increased, intensifying the use of fertilizers, pesticides, and insecticides. Consequently, concentrations of potentially toxic elements (PTE) in the soil have increased. To assess the soil quality (to provide a snapshot of the condition of the soil), systematic sampling was undertaken across a grid of about 2 km × 2 km. The main objective was to determine the chemical and mineral composition of the area of interest, keeping in mind the geological footprint of the terrain. The geologic framework itself is not conducive to elevated concentrations of elements like U, Th, Mo, As, Hg, Pb, and Cr. Therefore, metal concentrations greater than the amounts in the Earth's crust are most likely of anthropogenic origin. A total of 143 samples were collected and chemical analyses were performed using a Thermo Fisher Scientific Niton XL3t GOLDD+ XRF analyzer for the following elements: Mo, Zr, Sr, U, Rb, Th, Pb, Au, Se, As, Hg, Zn, W, Cu, Ni, Co, Fe, Mn, Cr, V, Ti, Sc, Ca, K, S, Ba, Cs, Te, Sb, Sn, Cd, Pd, and Ag. This paper provides examples of elevated concentrations, potentially harmful to the environment, such as those of the following: sulfur of unknown origin (two to three times higher than the Earth's crust average); arsenic, given that there are no related natural phenomena (all the samples measured displayed concentrations higher than those found in the Earth's crust); mercury (concentrations much higher than permissible levels); cesium (additional investigations required to determine the origin); molybdenum; and uranium likely resulting from the use of superphosphates (concentrations nearly always significantly higher than those in the Earth's crust). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]