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Earthen construction does not meet today’s requirements due to certain limitations such as low water resistance and its high vulnerability to cracking damage. The purpose of this study is to improve the mechanical properties and low durability of adobe blocks by incorporating date palm wastes as a natural reinforcement and lime as a stabilizer.

Soil from the region of Biskra in Algeria was mixed with sand and lime in suitable ratios. Then, date palm wastes were added to the previous mixture at different ratios (0.3%, 0.6% and 0.9%) by dry mix weight to manufacture adobes. Cubical and cylindrical specimens were prepared and tested in a laboratory to investigate the curing time, mechanical and durability characteristics of the formulated blocks. In addition, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) tests were used to identify the materials.

It has been observed that the addition of lime to the soil is very beneficial for its stabilization, in particular for an optimum of 12%. The presence of date palm waste in the mixture (soil + lime) generated a significant improvement in tensile strength reaching a rate of about 67%. The same observation was made for the tests of resistance to dry abrasion, resistance to erosion, attack by external sulphate and wetting/drying. However, for cases of compressive strength, water absorption and swelling an unfavorable effect was recorded.

Based on the above-mentioned findings, this paper presents a novel solution to increase the durability of adobe materials using date palm wastes with oven curing at 65°C for about nine days. Adopting such an approach would certainly encourage building durable mud housing on a large scale. This can contribute to solving the acute housing shortage, particularly in poor countries.

The purpose of this paper is to show that cultural heritage is very important in fostering a quality of life with value and pride in all civilizations. It comes together with an historic message and information that the cultural materials transmit from the past to the present and the future. Therefore, the protection of world cultural heritage from natural and man‐made disasters has been a focus both nationally and internationally for the last 50 years. There are a number of examples which indicate the extent of the irreplaceable destruction of heritage by natural disasters, such as Arg‐e Bam.

Now more than four years after the disaster this paper analyses the extent to which such opportunities were capitalized upon and proposes strategies and recommendations for future risk preparedness planning in Bam. Similar to most disasters, the 2003 Bam earthquake presented windows of opportunity for disaster mitigation, risk preparedness, physical planning, and socio‐economic and cultural developments. The earthquake damaged a significant part of the historical areas of the city and created an opportunity for developing a resilient community that could be used as a model city for other parts of the country.

The study finds that the earthquake provided an opportunity for further development and growth of the city's unique and internationally known date production through more publicity, renovation of the old irrigation systems, and expansion of its related industries. The Bam disaster created new opportunities for the city's exceptional cultural heritage and further developments in tourism. The city could also use this disaster to reshape its physical planning and development by introducing new planning ideas and innovations.

The Bam disaster created new opportunities for the city's exceptional cultural heritage and further developments in tourism. The city could also use this disaster to reshape its physical planning and development by introducing new planning ideas and innovations.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze and critique the growing literature on record‐keeping practices in Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt with a particular focus on processes of ancient accountability, and provide a research agenda for future work.

Analyzes the contributions of accounting historians in this area as well as the research conducted by Assyriologists and Egyptologists. Our analysis emphasizes the embeddeness of ancient processes of accounting and accountability in their wider contexts.

A framework is proposed comprising levels and spheres of accountability. The levels of accountability consist of: hierarchical; horizontal; and self, all entailing both accounting and non‐accounting elements. Furthermore, accountability is analyzed at three spheres: the individual‐state, the state‐individual, and the individual‐individual.

Further research in this area might examine issues such as the temporal dimension of accountability and whether more precise time measures than those reported in the extant literature were enforced in ancient economies; how the ancients dealt with differences between actual and expected measures; examination on the extent to which accountability exerted an impact on, and the role of accounting in, ordering the lives of individuals and communities; and examination of the trajectories of accounting and accountability across different historical episodes.

The purpose of this paper is to study the efforts of the 2003 Bam earthquake survivors and their strategy for coping with home loss. Regarding the key role of the sense of place within the recovery process following the disaster, this paper considers the characteristics of lost settings located in a desert area while searching for the factors that made an impact on householders' perception of newly built houses.

On the basis of the field survey, a group of 186 households were selected by the probability sampling method. Accordingly, the random selection of residents was organized within the three defined zones of the city that had experienced different degrees of building damages. Data were collected using a face‐to‐face communication approach with the target group of owners of self‐built houses.

The findings indicate that households tend to arrange the new settings on the basis of their perceptions of home place as well as the experience of loss during the quake. It also confirms that owners' participation in housing reconstruction process within setting arrangement has a significant positive impact on their attitude toward newly built homes.

Due to the widespread incidence of natural disasters and in the light of the key role of home place in the existence of human beings and their recovery process, the opportunity for local participation in new housing is highlighted as a means to overcome the challenges faced.

Liberalization policies of the Mexican government in the last decade and the enactment of NAFTA in 1994 have provided US firms with an opportunity to expand into Mexico. Before entering the Mexican market, however, managers should be aware of current conditions in Mexico and of the changes likely over the short term and long term. This paper explores which market opportunities are available immediately, which over the next five years, and which over the next decade. Brand management guidelines to exploit each are suggested.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of roselle flower extract and date palm pollen on the nutritional and sensory qualities of date palm spathe beverage (DPSB).

The nutritional composition and sensorial quality of the date palm spathe-based beverage were evaluated. The product was fortified with different concentrations (1 per cent and 5 per cent) of roselle flowers and 1 per cent date palm pollen grains.

Generally, fortification of the DPSB with roselle flowers only or the combination of roselle flowers and date palm pollen grains significantly affected the nutritional and sensory properties of the products. The total dissolved solids, turbidity and total contents of proteins; fats; carbohydrates; vitamins A, E and C; iron; nickel and copper were highest in the DPSB fortified with a mixture of 1 per cent roselle flower extract and 1 per cent pollen grains and lowest in the DPSB supplemented with 1 per cent roselle flower extract. The manganese and selenium contents were both highest and lowest in DPSB supplemented with 5 per cent and 1 per cent roselle flower extract, respectively. Antioxidant activity was highest in DPSB supplemented with the 5 per cent roselle flower extract and lowest in unfortified DPSB. Boron, molybdenum and zinc contents were highest in unfortified DPSB. All sensory attributes were highest in both the unfortified DPSB and that fortified with 1 per cent roselle flower extract.

While fortification with a combination of 1 per cent roselle flower extract and 1 per cent date palm pollen grains improved the nutritional quality of the DPSB, it negatively affected the sensory attributes of the products.

This paper aims to characterize and develop a new ecological lightweight concrete reinforced by addition of palm plant fibers (from vegetal waste) to be used in the thermal and acoustical insulation of local constructions. The date palm plant fibers are characterized by their low sensitivity to chemical reactions, low cost and large availability in local regions. Therefore, the newly obtained lightweight concrete may suggest a great interest, as it seems to be able to achieve good solutions for local construction problems, technically, economically and ecologically.

The experimental program focused on developing the composition of palm-fiber-reinforced concrete, by studying the effect of the length of the fibers (10, 20, 30 and 40 mm) and their mass percentage (0.5%, 1%, 1.5% and 2%), on the mechanical and acoustical properties of the composite. The main measured parameters were the compressive strength and flexural strength, sound absorption coefficient, noise reduction coefficient (NRC), etc. These tests were also borne out by the measure of density and water absorption, as well as microstructure analyses. To fully appreciate the behavior of the material, visualizations under optical microscope and scanning electron microscope analyses were carried out.

The addition of plant fibers to concrete made it possible to formulate a new lightweight concrete having interesting properties. The addition of date palm fibers significantly decreased the density of the concrete and consequently reduced its mechanical strength, particularly in compression. Acceptable compressive strength values were possible, according to the fibers content, while better values have been obtained in flexion. On the other hand, good acoustical performances were obtained: a considerable increase in the sound absorption coefficient and the NRC was recorded, according to the content and length of fibers. Even the rheological behavior has been improved with the addition of fibers, but with short fibers only.

Over the recent decades, many studies have attempted to search for more sustainable and environmentally friendly building materials. Therefore, this work aims to study the possibility of using waste from date palm trees as fibers in concrete instead of the conventionally used fibers. Although many researches have already been conducted on the effect of palm plant fibers on the mechanical/physical properties of concrete, no information is available neither on the formulation of this type of concrete nor on its acoustical properties. Indeed, due to the scarcity of raw materials and the excessive consumption of energy, the trend of plant fibers as resources, which are natural and renewable, is very attractive. It is therefore a major recycling project of waste and recovery of local materials.

A growing number of Muslim countries are expressing the desire, and in some cases taking serious actions, to turn to Islamic laws and teachings (shariah) in modelling their way of life, including their economic behaviour. Attempts to investigate the consequences of applying Islamic principles in Muslim societies. Argues that the traditional tools of economic analysis suggest that Islamic societies are likely to face many problems if they free their economies completely from all traces of interest, impose the religious tax of Zakat in a strict fashion and abandon all kinds of speculation.

The purpose of the paper was to investigate the use of aqueous extract of date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) leaf as a green inhibitor for corrosion of carbon steel in 1M hydrochloric acid (HCl) solution.

Extracts from the date palm were used as the main component of an environmentally friendly corrosion inhibitor for use in HCl pickling processes. Inhibition behavior on carbon steel in HCl was investigated using weight loss measurements, linear and potentiodynamic polarization curves, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy.

The results show that the extract exhibited good inhibition performance in 1M HCl. The inhibition efficiency increased with increase in the concentration of the inhibitor but decreased with increase in temperature. Inhibition efficiency also was found to increase as immersion time increased. The inhibitive action was due to adsorption of the date palm leaf components on the steel, which was consistent with the Langmuir isotherm.

Date palm leaf extract (DPLE) is an effective inhibitor at room temperature and can be used to protect plain carbon steel from corrosion in HCl solution.

This study provides new information on the inhibiting characteristics of DPLE under specified conditions. The environmentally friendly inhibitor could find possible applications in metal surface anodizing and acid pickling processes.