On the Acquisition of Derivational Suffixes by Kuwaiti EFL Learners

This study aims to test the extent to which 90 Kuwaiti EFL learners are aware of the correct use of derivational suffixes in English. It also identifies the mains reasons of the errors that Kuwaiti EFL learners may make. In addition, it investigates whether the English proficiency level of the participants plays a role in their answers on the test. To this end, the participants were tested twice in this study; a multiple-choice test was used to check their comprehension skills, whereas a fill-in the blank test was used to measure their ability to produce the correct derivational suffixes in English. Following data analysis, the results reveal that Kuwaiti EFL learners are fairly aware of the correct use of English derivational suffixes to a certain degree; the total mean on both tests (comprehension = 70% and production = 56%) is 63%. The participants obtained higher percentage of correct answers on the comprehension test (mean= 70%) compared to the production test (mean = 56%). Additionally, the t-test shows that the participants’ English proficiency level plays a central role in their comprehension and production of these suffixes. The performance of the Advanced Learners (ALs) (comprehension = 77% and production = 62%) is better than that of the Intermediate Learners (ILs) (comprehension = 64% and production = 48%) on the tests. In particular, there is a statistically significant difference between the answers of ALs and ILs on both tests. Regarding the types of error made by the participants, I argued that the most noticeable ones are due to: (1) the modification that non-neutral derivational suffixes cause when they are attached to the word (stems/roots); and (2) first language (L1) influence. Finally, the study concludes with some recommendations for further research

Statistical summability and approximation by de la Vallée-Poussin mean

AbstractIn this paper we define a new type of summability method via statistical convergence by using the density and (V,λ)-summability. We further apply our new summability method to prove a Korovkin type approximation theorem

Corporate governance and voluntary disclosure in Kuwait

“A thesis submitted to the University of Bedfordshire, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy”.Failure of high profile companies such as Enron, World.com had initiated a call for an investigation to analyse the reason for such radical consequence to prevent further similar financial crises. One of the common factors identified by the researchers is the poor disclosure, transparency and Corporate Governance (CG) mechanisms. Similar to the UK, the compliance towards CG codes are voluntary for the majority of the countries around the globe including Kuwait. CG codes aimed to improve the governance of a company including transparency. Thus, voluntary disclosure had been examined by numerous academics to emphasise the importance of accountability, transparency that in turn increase the confidence of investors and creditors in the financial markets of emerging economies. This thesis is based on Kuwait, as it is a resource rich country and attracts foreign investments. The Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) issued instructions for CG mechanism especially to the financial sector in 2004. From the research in hand, there was no longitudinal study in Kuwait concerning the impact of GC mechanism to voluntary disclosure. The sample in this thesis consists of 155 Kuwaiti listed companies from 2007 to 2010, 620 firm-year observations. A self-constructed index was developed to evaluate the level of voluntary disclosure and how it developed over time. Both univariate analysis and multivariate analysis were used. Most of the thesis results were consistent with previous studies; there was a gradual increase in the level of voluntary disclosure and its categories over the observed period. All CG mechanisms findings revealed significant associations with voluntary disclosure, except board size and role duality, have a negative significant association. Ownership structure indicates insignificant association with voluntary disclosure. Firm characteristics have a significant positive association with voluntary disclosure, except profitability, has a significant negative association, while gearing is found an insignificant association. Furthermore, the level of voluntary disclosure in the financial sector is higher than the non-financial sector. The contributions to knowledge in this thesis are; 1) It is the first empirical longitudinal study in Kuwait concerning voluntary disclosure, and its relationship with GC mechanism, ownership structure and firm characteristics, as far as the researcher is aware. 2) It provided evidence of the importance of CG to enhancing the level of voluntary disclosure in Kuwait business environment, especially that the level of voluntary disclosure in the financial sector is higher than the non-financial sector. 3) Employed many quantitative methods, such as OSL regression, Normal score, GLS regression, Tobit regression and Quantile regression (divided into 25%, 50% and 75%). 4) A self-constructed index, which was developed in this thesis, could be suitable for other Arab Gulf countries that are similar in the business environment and experiencing the same economic changes. 5) Provides evidence of the possibility of employing the disclosure theories derived from developed countries in emerging countries. 6) It is possible to generalise the results of the disclosure index to other companies not investigated in this thesis. Moreover, this thesis implies that the legislative and regulatory authorities, in particular, the capital markets authority Kuwaiti, need to increase efforts to enhance the role of corporate governance practices in Kuwaiti listed companie

New Classes of Generalized Seminormed Difference Sequence Spaces

The purpose of this paper is to introduce new classes of generalized seminormed difference sequence spaces defined by a Musielak-Orlicz function. We also study some topological properties and prove some inclusion relations between resulting sequence spaces

Sex differences in olfactory cortex neuronal loss in aging

Introduction: Aging plays a major role in neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, and impacts neuronal loss. Olfactory dysfunction can be an early alteration heralding the presence of a neurodegenerative disorder in aging. Studying alterations in olfaction-related brain regions might help detection of neurodegenerative diseases at an earlier stage as well as protect individuals from any danger caused by loss of sense of smell. Objective: To assess the effect of age and sex on olfactory cortex volume in cognitively healthy participants. Method: Neurologically healthy participants were divided in three groups based on their age: young (20–35 years; n = 53), middle-aged (36–65 years; n = 66) and older (66–85 years; n = 95). T1-weighted MRI scans acquired at 1.5 T were processed using SPM12. Smoothed images were used to extract the volume of olfactory cortex regions. Results: ANCOVA analyses showed significant differences in volume between age groups in the olfactory cortex (p ≤ 0.0001). In women, neuronal loss started earlier than in men (in the 4th decade of life), while in men more substantial neuronal loss in olfactory cortex regions was detected only later in life. Conclusion: Data indicate that age-related reduction in the volume of the olfactory cortex starts earlier in women than in men. The findings suggest that volume changes in olfaction-related brain regions in the aging population deserve further attention as potential proxies of increased risk of neurodegenerative diseases.MMA was funded by a scholarship by King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Training Software Effectiveness Applied by the Mothers to Their Autistic Children at Home Remotely to Develop Their Self-Care Skills Under the Supervision of the Specialist

This study represented a Training software applied by mothers to their autistic children at home remotely to develop their self-care skills through computer activities such as toothbrushing, hand washing, toilet use skills, wearing and taking off clothes skills Under the supervision of the specialist, the Course-lab program will introduce the software & flowchart to define the flow of the software. The main objective of the study here is twofold, one of which is to develop the capacity of the mother in training her autistic child in self-care skills and to recognize the effectiveness of the software in developing the capacity of the autistic child. This study is based on an experimental approach. Researchers prepared a questionnaire consisting of 60 phrases to measure a childs performance on these skills before and after the use and practical application of the software. The participants consist of 11 children and 11 mothers in a six-month period, and a sample was collected from mothers and children of rehabilitation centers in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Data were analyzed by statistical methods using the SPSS program, version No. 24. The descriptive statistics were used to process data and the percentage of gains of Blacks Modifies adjustments. Among the most important findings of the study was the improved performance of children in acquiring self-care skills, as well as the improved performance of mothers in applying self-care skills to their children this is reflected in Blakes modified gains to detect the effectiveness of the application 1.42, indicating acceptable and highly effective categories, and average pre-training scores calculated. (Before the introduction of the self-care skills development program for children with autism) where the average in tribal measurement was 40.13 by contrast, the corresponding average in dimensional measurement was 88.43 in favor of dimensional measurement and the calculated Z value exceeded the scheduled test value of Z (0.05 and 0.01, respectively; p ≤ 0.000) indicating the effectiveness of the software used

Numerical Solutions for the Time and Space Fractional Nonlinear Partial Differential Equations

We implement relatively analytical techniques, the homotopy perturbation method, and variational iteration method to find the approximate solutions for time and space fractional Benjamin-Bona Mahony equation. The fractional derivatives are described in the Caputo sense. These methods are used in applied mathematics to obtain the analytic approximate solutions for the nonlinear Bejamin-Bona Mahoney (BBM) partial fractional differential equation. We compare between the approximate solutions obtained by these methods. Also, we present the figures to compare between the approximate solutions. Also, we use the fractional complex transformation to convert nonlinear partial fractional differential equations to nonlinear ordinary differential equations. We use the improved -expansion function method to find exact solutions of nonlinear fractional BBM equation

On a higher-order system of difference equations

Here we study the following system of difference equations xn = f −1 cnf(xn−2k) ∏k an + bn i=1 g(y) n−(2i−1))f(xn−2i) yn = g −1 γng(yn−2k) ∏k αn + βn i=1 f(x) n−(2i−1))g(yn−2i) n ∈ N0, where f and g are increasing real functions such that f(0) = g(0) = 0, and coefficients an, bn, cn, αn, βn, γn, n ∈ N0, and initial values x−i, y−i, i ∈ {1, 2,..., 2k} are real numbers. We show that the system is solvable in closed form, and study asymptotic behavior of its solutions

Boundedness character of a max-type system of difference equations of second order

The boundedness character of positive solutions of the next max-type system of difference equations $$x_{n+1}=\max\left\{A,\frac{y_n^p}{x_{n-1}^q}\right\},\quad y_{n+1}=\max\left\{A,\frac{x_n^p}{y_{n-1}^q}\right\},\quad n\in\mathbb{N}_0,$$ with $\min\{A, p, q\}>0$, is characterized