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The aim is to evaluate the nutritive value of vended machine items at university campuses in Lebanon and to explore the factors associated with the use of vending machines among students.

Campuses (n = 32) were screened for the presence of vending machines, and items sold in those machines (n = 21) were observed and assessed for their nutritive value. Also, a convenient sample of 603 students completed a web-based questionnaire investigating the association between the use of vending machines with the eating habits and body composition. Independent t-tests or chi-square, in addition to non-parametric test (Mann–Whitney) were conducted. Significance level of 0.05 was used.

Vending machine snacks sold in 20 out of 21 universities were high in sugar (32.1 g/100 g), fat (29 g/100 g) and saturated fat (10.5 g/100 g), while for beverages, 20% of the universities had them high in sugar (9.5 g/100 ml), fat (2.9 g/100 g) and saturated fat (1.7 g/100 g). The use of vending machines around campus was associated with significantly higher weekly consumption of crisps, savory snacks and milk. The majority of the participants were vending machine users (77.1%). Vending machine users had a higher weekly consumption of crisps and savory snacks (3.6 ± 4.3 vs 2.3 ± 3.3; p = 0.008) and a higher weekly consumption of milk (4.0 ± 4.2 vs 3.0 ± 3.6; p = 0.036).

No study has determined the nutritive value of vending machines in universities in Lebanon, nor investigated the associated factors with their use.

The purpose of this paper is to assess level of food safety knowledge and self-reported practices among Lebanese food handlers in Lebanese households and to identify the association between knowledge/practices and socio-demographic characteristics.

A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1,500 participants from different gender, age, area of residence, income, marital status and education. They completed a questionnaire of six questions about demographics, and 26 questions related to knowledge and self-reported practices in terms of food handling, storage, usage of kitchen facilities and personal hygiene subgroups. SPSS v23 was used for statistical analyses. Student t-test and analysis of variance were conducted. Significance level of 0.05 was used.

On average, participants scored 55.6±16.3, 51.3±25.7, 67.4±19.3 and 89.1±16.3 on food handling, storage, usage of kitchen facilities and personal hygiene, respectively, whereas the passing (score above 50 percent) rates were 64.5, 69.9, 90.5 and 99.1, respectively, for the different subgroups. Gender had significant (p<0.05) effect on food handling and personal hygiene; age, marital status and education had significant (p<0.05) effect on handling, usage of kitchen facilities and personal hygiene; area of residence had significant (p<0.05) effect on storage, handling and usage of kitchen facilities; income had significant (p<0.05) effect on handling and usage of kitchen facilities. Overall mean food safety knowledge and self-reported practices score was 63.8±12.6; passing rate was 86.2; gender, age, area of residence, education, marital status and income had significant (p<0.05) effect. Food safety self-reported practices and knowledge scores were significantly (p<0.001) related to a weak to moderate correlation coefficient (R=0.34).

The results confirm the need for ongoing educational initiatives to improve the relatively low food safety knowledge and practices among the Lebanese food handlers in Lebanese households.

No study has determined the food safety knowledge and self-reported practices of Lebanese food handlers in Lebanese households before.

This paper aims to investigate perceptions of United Arab Emirates (UAE) real estate investors’ behaviour and the factors that most influence their investment decisions.

This study used a modified questionnaire that was divided into two parts. The first part covered demographic and socioeconomic variables. The second part identified 36 factors that affect the perceptions of real estate investors in the UAE regarding their investment decisions. These factors were placed in eight different categories that correspond to non-personal factors such as, profit, market conditions, risk, transparency, credit facilities (loans), infrastructure and services.

The findings confirm that there is a significant and positive relationship between three factors; namely, profitability, risk and service quality regarding investments in the real estate sector. The findings also confirm a positive but statistically insignificant relationship between transparency, market conditions, credit facilities, infrastructure and investment in the UAE’s real estate sector.

The sample size represents one of the limitations of this study. In addition, the gender of the sample is another limitation as, in general, men are more involved in investment than women are. Furthermore, there are no previous studies regarding the behaviour of UAE real estate investors; thus, the findings of this study cannot be directly compared with other empirical studies.

It might be helpful to create separate units under the name “Real Estate Information Unit” in every municipality of each of the seven emirates. In addition, it is recommended that decision makers should consider ensuring that modern high-quality real estate infrastructure is available to attract more investors. Finally, minimizing any restrictions on access financing facilities may encourage investors to invest more in the UAE real estate sector.

This study is the first of its kind to be conducted in the context of the behaviour of UAE real estate investors.

The purpose of this paper is to examine antecedents of customer engagement on social media and how these platforms can enhance customers’ continuation intention. Customer engagement is manifested by the continued use of social media and is expected to occur when customers have a positive attitude toward social media. Thus, the main objective of this research is to explore the factors that affect customers’ attitude toward social media, which in turn is expected to result in customer engagement. Attitude toward social media is proposed to have an impact on levels of use and satisfaction is proposed to have a direct impact on customer engagement. An extended technology acceptance model (TAM) is used as the basic model guiding this research.

The theoretical model is tested drawing on the results of empirical work in the form of a large scale survey conducted on a random sample of the US general population. Data collection resulted in 388 usable questionnaires. Structural equation modeling is used to analyze data.

Results of this research provide support to the research objectives. Two of the three proposed factors extending TAM, namely, perceived connectedness and enjoyment were found to have a significant effect on attitude toward social media use. Attitude toward social media use was found to have a significant effect on level of use and level of use was found to have a significant effect on continuation intention. Additionally, satisfaction was found to have a significant direct effect on continuation intention.

Findings of this research provide managers with useful insights about what they need to focus on when designing their social media strategies.

This study provides a different way of theorizing customer engagement by incorporating new variables to TAM that are particularly relevant to the social media context. It also draws a link between attitude toward social media and levels of use, which has been understudied in literature.

This study aims to investigate whether quality of governance (QoG), trustworthiness and confidence impacted bank credit growth in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). In addition, it examined whether credit growth differed between Islamic and conventional banks in GCC countries.

Using data from 104 (56 conventional banks and 48 Islamic banks) banks located in GCC countries from 2012 to 2019, the two-step system generalized method of moments estimator was used to analyse the data.

Evidence was found of the influence of trust in institutions in boosting credit growth. The QoG generally expanded credit growth which instilled confidence in the economy and the banking sector. Credit growth was more pronounced for Islamic banks. This paper has contributed to the literature evaluating the determinants of credit growth in GCC.

This paper has been one of the few studies exploring the effect of trustworthiness and confidence (informal institutions) and macro governance (formal institutions) in GCC. GCC is different from other regions, as it is oil-dependent and shares similar legal, social and cultural aspects. This suggested that these might yield different results than expected.

The paper investigates relative efficiency of the banking industry in Bahrain by employing a panel of 31 banks for the years 1998 and 2000. We employ non‐parametric (Data Envelopment Analysis) to examine five efficiency measures, namely, cost, allocative, technical, pure technical and scale efficiency scores. We also investigate the conventional accounting measures of performance, and correlate them with five measures of efficiency to investigate whether higher accounting performance impact the bank cost efficiency. Our results show that, on the average, the banking industry in Bahrain is profitable with average ROE and ROA being 10.36% 1.622% in 1998 while 13.49% and 2.097% in 2000 respectively. The average allocative efficiency (inefficiency) is about 73% (37%), whereas the average technical efficiency (inefficiency) is about 56% (78%). This indicates that the dominant source of inefficiency in Bahrain banks is due to technical inefficiency rather than allocative inefficiency, which is mainly attributed to diseconomies in scale. Overall, average scale efficiency (inefficiency) is about 79% (26%), and average pure technical efficiency (inefficiency) is about 71% (41%), suggesting that the major source of the total technical inefficiency for Bahrain banks is pure technical inefficiency (input related) and not scale inefficiency (output related). The results also indicate that all banks have improved their efficiency levels and experienced some gains in productivity. Finally, regression analysis is used to investigate the determinants of the overall efficiency scores. We find that larger and profitable banks are more likely to operate at a higher level of efficiency. Also, another finding reveals that market power plays an important role in cost and technical efficiencies. Notably, banks with greater contribution from shareholders tend to be more technical efficient

The purpose of the paper is to showcase the significant achievements of Egypt's scientists in the 20th century across various fields of study such as medicine, physics, chemistry, biology, math, geology, astronomy and engineering. The paper highlights the struggles and successes of these scientists, as well as the cultural, social and political factors that influenced their lives and work. The aim is to inspire young people to pursue careers in science and make their own contributions to society by presenting these scientists as role models for hard work and dedication. Ultimately, the paper seeks to promote the importance of science and its impact on society.

The purpose of this review is to present the scientific biographies of Egypt's most distinguished scientists, primarily in the field of Natural Sciences, in a balanced and comprehensive manner. The work is objective, honest and abstract, avoiding any bias or exaggeration. The author provides a clear and concise methodology, including a brief introduction to the scientist and their field of study, an explanation of their major contributions, the impact of their work on society, any challenges or obstacles faced during their career and their lasting legacy. The aim is to showcase the important achievements of these scientists, their impact on their respective fields and to inspire future generations to pursue scientific careers.

The group of outstanding scientists in 20th century Egypt were shaped by various factors, including familial upbringing, education, society, political and cultural atmosphere and state support for scientific research. These scientists made significant contributions to various academic disciplines, including medicine, physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics and engineering. Their impact on their communities and cultures has received international acclaim, making them role models for future generations of scientists and researchers. The history of these scientists highlights the importance of educational investments and supporting scientific research to foster innovation and social progress. The encyclopedia serves as a useful tool for students, instructors and education professionals, preserving Egypt's scientific heritage and honouring the scientists' outstanding accomplishments.

The encyclopedia preserves Egypt's scientific heritage, which has been overlooked for political or other reasons. It is a useful tool for a variety of readers, including students, instructors and education professionals, and it offers insights into universally relevant scientific success factors as well as scientific research methodologies. The encyclopedia honours the outstanding scientific accomplishments of Egyptian researchers and their contributions to the world's scientific community.

The practical implications of this paper are several. First, it highlights the importance of education, family upbringing and societal support for scientific research in fostering innovation and social progress. Second, it underscores the need for continued funding and support for scientific research to maintain and build upon the accomplishments of past generations of scientists. Third, it encourages young people to pursue scientific careers and make their own contributions to society. Fourth, it preserves the scientific heritage of Egypt and honors the contributions of its outstanding scientists. Finally, it serves as a useful tool for students, instructors and education professionals seeking to understand the factors underlying scientific success and research methodologies.

The social implications of the paper include promoting national pride and cultural identity, raising awareness of the importance of education and scientific research in driving social progress, inspiring future generations of scientists and researchers, reducing socioeconomic disparities and emphasizing the role of society, politics and culture in shaping scientific researchers' personalities and interests.

The paper's originality/value lies in its comprehensive documentation of the scientific biographies of Egypt's most prominent scientists in the 20th century, providing unique insights into the factors that contributed to their development and their impact across various academic disciplines. It preserves Egypt's scientific heritage and inspires future generations of scientists and researchers through the promotion of educational investments and scientific research. The encyclopedia serves as a useful tool for education professionals seeking to understand scientific success factors and research methodologies, emphasizing the importance of supportive and inclusive environments for scientific development.

Every year, hundreds of people have died and thousands have been injured because of insufficient management of well control at oil and gas drilling and production sites. Major causes which have been reported in previous studies included uncontrollable blowouts and failure of blowout preventers because of insufficient safety practices. These onshore and offshore blowout disasters not only harm the work force but also critically affect the environment and marine life. In this research paper, a detailed quantitative survey and qualitative risk assessments (RA) have been carried out for assessing the potentially hazardous activities associated with well control along with their appropriate controls and risk reduction factors and mitigating measures in Middle East and south East Asian countries.

The sequential explanatory research design has been adopted in this study. Whereas, descriptive statistical approach has been used for the quantitative data analysis of this study. While, in-depth interview approach has been used for qualitative data collection. Similarly, what-if analysis method has been adopted in this study for the identification of effective safety and health risk mitigating factors because it provides in-depth information from health and safety environment experts.

The cumulative quantitative results based on the response from Saudi Arabian drilling industry have indicated that the well control operation is highly hazardous then Malaysian and Pakistani oil and gas industries. Likewise, findings from what-if analysis approach demonstrate that the drilling crewmembers have repetitively faced life threatening hazards which occur (safety and chemical) during well control onshore and offshore operation because of oil base mud, confined space at site, pinch points and falling during working on blow out preventers. According to the overall result, respondents have highly recommended engineering and administrative hazard controlling factors as most suitable for the elimination of safety and chemical hazards during well control activities.

Besides, the developed methodological framework for the identification of suitable hazard controls can also be effectively used for potential hazards reorganization and identification of suitable hazard controls for other drilling and production industries and regions for accident prevention and safety and health management.

This is a first comparative research study which has been carried out in Malaysian, Saudi Arabian and Pakistani onshore and offshore oil and gas industries for well control health and safety management and reorganization of most effective hazards mitigating factors at drilling sites.

There is a great deal of research that has been done to investigate the investment characteristics of conventional socially responsible investment portfolios compared to their broader conventional counterparts. However, the impact of incorporating sustainability criteria into the traditional Sharia screening process has not so far been investigated. Therefore, the study aims to give empirical evidence as to whether or not incorporating sustainability socially responsible criteria in the traditional Sharia screening process has a significant impact on the investment characteristics of the Islamic investment portfolio.

The paper examines the investment characteristics of four groups of investment portfolios mainly, Dow Jones Global Index, Dow Jones Sustainability World Index, Dow Jones Islamic Market World Index and Dow Jones Islamic Market Sustainability Index. To improve the robustness of the study, the analysis was carried out at different levels. First, absolute mean return and t‐test were used to examine whether the difference between the different groups of investments is statistically significant or not. Second, risk adjusted equilibrium models, both single‐index and Fama and French multi‐index, were employed. This is to control for different risk exposure and investment style bias associated with different investment portfolios examined.

The paper finds that neither the Sharia nor the sustainability screening process seems to have an adverse impact on the performance and systematic risk of the investment portfolios compared to their unrestricted conventional counterparts. Therefore, Muslim as well as socially responsible investors can choose investments that are consistent with their value systems and beliefs without being forced to sacrifice performance or expose to higher systematic risk.

The study contributes to the existing literature by giving new evidence on the impact of incorporating sustainability criteria into the traditional Sharia screening process that has not so far been investigated.

The purpose of this study is to update the investment literature by providing latest evidence of performance of Islamic mutual funds by using global sample mutual funds data to support with empirical facts.

This study analyzes the comparative performance of Islamic and conventional mutual funds by using capital asset pricing model, Fama & French’s three-factor model and Carhart’s four-factor model. Further, the study tested the coskenwness effect by using data envelopment analysis approach.

The authors find evidence that when size of the funds is controlled, Islamic investment underperform the conventional mutual funds in four out of six models. The size of underperformance varies from model to model: from 32 basis points in the Carhart’s four-factor model with the skewness factor to two basis points at the Fama and French’s three-factor model. Also the study finds that alpha(s) are only insignificant for conventional mutual funds when the skewness factor is included in the regression. While comparing the loading on Islamic mutual funds, results show that Islamic mutual funds are less risky than conventional mutual funds when they are controlled for skewness.

This study uses the different factor models of performance evolution which help in overcoming weakness of measuring the Islamic mutual funds’ performance.