Solution of the Dirac equation in the rotating Bertotti-Robinson spacetime

The Dirac equation is solved in the rotating Bertotti-Robinson spacetime. The set of equations representing the Dirac equation in the Newman-Penrose formalism is decoupled into an axial and angular part. The axial equation, which is independent of mass, is solved exactly in terms of hypergeometric functions. The angular equation is considered both for massless (neutrino) and massive spin-(1/2) particles. For the neutrinos, it is shown that the angular equation admits an exact solution in terms of the confluent Heun equation. In the existence of mass, the angular equation does not allow an analytical solution, however, it is expressible as a set of first order differential equations apt for numerical study.Comment: 17 pages, no figure. Appeared in JMP (May, 2008

The Perception of English Vowels by Arab EFL Learners: A Case Study of University Students at Zarqa University

The present paper focuses on the perception of English vowel sounds by learners of English at university level. English and Arabic, genetically two different languages, share some common features on one hand, and exhibit a lot of differences on the other hand. These differences are the chief source of difficulty in the learning of a foreign language. Some Arabic speakers perform oddly on a range of experimental tasks which involve word discrimination. All these tasks involve discriminating words with identical consonant patterns, but differing in their vowels. Some Arabic speakers, it seems, are conspicuously inaccurate in handling vowels in English words, and are much more prone to make errors involving vowels than subjects of other mother tongue backgrounds. One possible explanation to these effects is that Arabic speakers seem to transfer to English a set of psycholinguistic strategies that are more appropriately deployed in processing Arabic words. Unlike English, Arabic vowels are of secondary importance both in script and in word building, and the word recognition system depends heavily on the tri-consonantal roots which are the basis of most Arabic words with vowels variations placed within the consonantal framework. From pedagogy point of view, such differences between the two languages will be determined and included in various teaching material. In some other words, teaching will be directed at those differences. This in turn determines what the teacher has to teach and what the learner has to learn. The present researchers anticipate that the similarities between the two systems would act as a reference point for the learner's perception of the English vowels. The results of the present research would in turn encourage instructors to follow similar procedures in their teaching of sounds at university level in particular. Keywords: English as a foreign language (EFL), Modern Standard Arabic, Zarqa Universit

Protective effect of propolis on manganese chloride neurotoxicity of olfactory bulb in adult male albino rat

Background: Manganese (Mn) is widely used for industrial purposes and exposure to high levels of Mn may cause an irreversible brain disease. Propolis is a natural plant product; it acts as a powerful reactive oxygen species scavenger and improves the neurodegeneration process. Materials and methods: In this study 40 adult male albino rats were divided randomly into four groups 10 rats each: group I (control group), group II manganese chloride (MnCl2) received 10 mg/kg/day/orally for 4 weeks by intra-gastric tube, group III (propolis group) received 50 mg/kg/day/orally for 4 weeks by intra-gastric tube, and group IV (MnCl2 + propolis group) received the same doses with the same duration and route as in groups II and III. Rats were sacrificed after 24 h of last dose. The olfactory bulbs removed, the right bulb cut to be processed for haematoxylin and eosin, immunohistochemical staining and the left cut for electron microscopic studies. Results: Results revealed that rat olfactory bulb from MnCl2 group showed darkly stained mitral cells with dark pyknotic nuclei, some show pericellular spaces and vacuolation, dark apoptotic cells in granular cells, neuropil vacuolation and pyknotic astrocyte. Electron microscopic examination showed abnormal granular cell with irregular damaged nuclear membrane, rupture of myelin fibre. Mitral nerve cell with destructed nucleus, many cytoplasmic vacuoles, swollen rough endoplasmic reticulum, vacuolated mitochondria and neuropil were observed. Manganese chloride + propolis group showed improvement compared to MnCl2 group. Conclusions: It was concluded that propolis can ameliorate the toxic changes of manganese chloride on rat olfactory bulb

Role of Nigella sativa seed oil on corneal injury induced by formaldehyde in adult male albino rats

Formaldehyde is frequently used in occupational environments, its toxicity concerns to all who work closely with it such as anatomists. Nigella sativa is an amazing herb with a rich historical and religious background; its seeds are the source of its active ingredients. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the role of Nigella sativa oil on corneal injury induced by formaldehyde in adult male albino rats. Forty adult male albino rats were divided randomly to four groups 10 rats each: I — Control group, II — Formaldehyde exposed group, III — Nigella sativa oil group (40 mg/kg/day) via intragastric tube daily for 2 weeks and IV — Formaldehyde and Nigella sativa group. Rats were sacrificed with ether, the corneas were extracted, one processed for haematoxylin and eosin stain and the other was used for transmission electron microscopic examination. Our results in group II revealed marked disorganisation, erosion, vacuolation and necrosis of epithelial cells with loss of parts of epithelial layer. Large congested invasion of blood vessels with separation and disorganisation of stromal fibrils. The corneas of group IV showed intact layers of epithelial cells with appearance close to control group. Star shaped cells (limbal stem cells) were obviously noticed in basal and intermediate layer with intact Bowman’s membrane. Stroma showed regular parallel collagen, limbal stem cells were also noticed in group III. We concluded that Nigella sativa oil can ameliorate the toxic changes of formaldehyde on rat corneas.

Health Citizenship Attitudes among Social Studies Teachers of Post-Primary Education in Sultanate of Oman: Role of the Demographic Variables in the COVID-19 Pandemic Context

ملخص: أجريت هذه الدراسة لاستكشاف اتجاهات المواطنة الصحيّة لدى معلمي الدراسات الاجتماعية في مرحلة التعليم ما بعد الأساسي في سلطنة عُمان، ولفحص أثر بعض المتغيرات الديموغرافية والشخصية في سياق جائحة كوفيد-19. تكوّنت عينة الدراسة من (ن=200) معلّم ومعلمّة دراسات اجتماعية يعملون في أربع محافظات: مسقط، والباطنة شمال، والباطنة جنوب، والداخلية. واستندت الدراسة إلى المنهج الوصفي التحليلي. وبُني مقياس اتجاهات المواطنة الصحيّة وطوّر بحيث تضمن ثلاثة أبعاد: المعرفة بالمواطنة الصحيّة، والتزام قيم المواطنة الصحيّة، والمشاركة في تعزيز قيم المواطنة الصحيّة. أُجري التحقق من الصدق الظاهري والثبات لأداة الدراسة باستخدام صدق المُحكّمين ومعامل الاتساق الداخلي، فبلغت قيمة ألفا كرونباخ (0.90=α). وأظهرت النتائج أن مستوى اتجاهات المواطنة الصحيّة لدى المعلمين كان إيجابيًّا ومرتفعًا، فقد بلغ المتوسط الحسابي والنسبة المئوية للدرجة الكلية (م=3.88، 77.6%)، وللمعرفة بالمواطنة الصحيّة (م=4.17، 83.4%)، وللمشاركة في تعزيز قيم المواطنة الصحيّة (م=3.93، 78.6%)، وللالتزام بسلوكيات المواطنة الصحيّة (م=3.54، 70.8%). كما كشفت النتائج وجود فروق دالّة إحصائياً في مستوى اتجاهات المواطنة الصحيّة تعود إلى متغيرات الجنس، ومعدل متابعة أخبار كوفيد-19، والمحافظة التعليمية، وعدم وجود فروق تُعزى إلى متغيري التخصص، ومدى التزام الإجراءات الوقائية.Abstract: This study explored the Health Citizenship Attitudes among social studies teachers in post-primary education stage in Sultanate of Oman, besides examining the impact of some demographic and personal variables. The sample consisted of (N =200) teachers. The descriptive analytical design method was used. Health Citizenship Attitudes Scale was developed to include knowledge of health citizenship, commitment to health citizenship values, and participation in promoting health citizenship values. The Face validity, and reliability of scale were also verified, using expert judges and the internal consistency coefficient that showed a reliable value of Cronbach's alpha (α =0.90). The results showed that the level of health citizenship attitudes among teachers was positive and high, with the mean and percentage of the total scale score (M = 3.88, 77.6%), and for knowledge of health citizenship (M = 4.17, 83.4%), for participation in promoting values of Health citizenship (M=3.93, 78.6%), and commitment to health citizenship behaviors (M=3.54, 70.8%). The results also revealed that there were statistically significant differences to variables of gender, rate of following Covid-19 news, educational governorate, and no differences were found regarding the variables of major and extent of commitment to preventive measures

THE EFFECT OF TERMS OF TRADE SHOCKS ON AGRICULTURAL PRODUCT IN IRAQ FOR THE PERIOD (1990 – 2022)

This research was aimed to study and analyze the impact of the shocks of the agricultural net terms of trade (NBTT) on agricultural product (AP) in Iraq during the period (1990 – 2021), which are among the shocks affecting the agricultural sector and foreign trade, the research used quantitative approaches in estimating the levels of impact, including VAR model, variance decomposition analysis (VDA) and impulse response function (IRF). The results showed that VDA of AP was weak in respect of agricultural NBTT and vice versa. While IRF of NBTT was negative in respect of Ap, and the same result was for IRF of AP. The study recommended the need to consider strategies to support smallholder farmers, such as providing access to credit, soft loans, technical assistance and markets for their products, in addition of support the technological advancements for their role in shaping the relationship between agricultural trade and agricultural production