Pottery and communal identity : Archaeometrical Study of Islamic Ceramic Assemblages in Northern Jordan

The study of Northern Jordan Islamic pottery provided complete visualize regarding the pottery production and technology. Archaeometry close look allowed identifying the most frequently utilized raw materials that were mostly used to produce the different Islamic pottery wares. The analysis of the pottery assemblages that were collected from the hinterlands of Abila, Gadara, and Umm el-Jimal, allowed comparison of the raw materials. Grouping of the samples was based on the raw materials that figured out the most popular source of the clayey materials. The study estimated technical aspects that revealed disparity in the durability of the Early Islamic pottery and the Middle, Late Islamic periods. The study confirmed that the Early Islamic pottery was fired frequently at higher temperatures than the Middle and Late Islamic periods. The constituents of the studied samples reflected the local geology of the studied area, except very few sherds that were brought from somewhere else. The petrography, XRD, and SEM enriched our knowledge about Northern Jordan Islamic pottery, which is not well documented. Pottery as a culture choice has been the key that this study used to discuss the communal identity. Although archaeometry is a trend usually used to gain scientific information, the information can always interpret and coupled with ethnographic and archaeological studies. Therefore; the archaeometry results showed similarities in the consumed clayey materials and tempering materials, which reflects culture choice. The study suggested that the communal identity has changed when comparing the Early Islamic period with the Middle and Late periods. Early Islamic assemblage, in general, is durable, wheel-thrown, and plain, this is their cultural choice if it was not imposed on them. While the Middle and the Late Islamic period's pottery was a cottage industry less durable, and frequently hand-made, although decorated, which reflects their culture choice and the structure of production in this period. The interpretation of the archaeometry results required comparison with the local geology of the region, which indicated a correlation between the results and the geology of the region. The results of quantitative and qualitative scientific techniques contributed to the division of samples into groups, which facilitated their comparison with the local geology of the region. The study proved that the majority of the studied samples raw materials are a reflection of the local geology, which indicates conservative potters. Scientific analysis detected a change in the manufacturing techniques from the early Islamic period when compared with subsequent periods, suggesting a change in pottery culture that can reflect a change in community identity. The study combined both the traditional archaeological pottery study techniques and the archaeometric, the combination opened new horizons for understanding Northern Jordan Islamic pottery tradition. The results of this study showed the importance of the pottery sherds to understand the Islamic culture, regardless of its source, whether from an archaeological survey or archeological excavations. Understanding the pottery tradition was the major factor that favored reconstructing the communal identity besides the administrative and the road networks in the area and the surrounding

Relationship between leaders' emotional intelligence, organisational commitment, job satisfaction, and turnover intention in Jordanian hotel industry

The employees’ turnover phenomenon in the hotel industry is being focused upon by managers and academicians because employees’ attitudes and behaviours play a vital role in developing hotels. Meanwhile, this phenomenon is linked to employees’ job satisfaction (JS) and their organisational commitment (OC). Therefore, to manage employees’ turnover, the management must reduce the intention of turnover amongst employees. Given the phenomenal growth of the Jordanian hotels over the last ten years, it is important for leaders to understand, predict and control employees’ turnover intention (TI) to reduce the consequences of the turnover. This study aims to examine the mediating role of employees’ JS between leaders’ emotional intelligence (EI), OC, and employees’ TI, with the employment of theory of reasoned action (TRA). A sample of 236 operational employees in five-star and four-star hotels in Jordan were selected by using stratified random sampling technique. Reliability test, data screening, factor analysis, correlation, multiple regression were executed to test the research hypotheses. Factor analysis exhibited one dimension of Leaders’ EI. OC produced two dimensions named as normative continuance commitment and affective commitment. Two factors renamed as intrinsic and organisation-based self-esteem (OBSE) for job satisfaction. TI divided for two dimensions renamed as thought to quit and behavioural loyalty. Results revealed that no significant effect between leaders’ EI, normative continuance commitment, and OBSE with thoughts of quitting. Normative continuance commitment, organization-based self-esteem, and intrinsic JS, influence positively on the behavioural loyalty. Whereas, this study has found only two mediating effects which are partially mediating effects of OBSE on normative continuance commitment and behavioural loyalty, and fully mediating effects of intrinsic JS on normative continuance commitment and behavioural loyalty. Through the application of TRA, TI can be explained as a negative response of employees to the unfulfilled obligation by organizations, as expected in an employee-employer relationship

Development of general hydrodynamic modelling method for whiplash nerve injury: Using high-fidelity data from the ViVA+ human body model

Vehicle collisions are an issue in the automotive industry, and one of the most common injury in vehicle collisions are whiplash injuries. The reason for the rise of such injury is caused by the occupant’s torso being accelerated along the collision direction while the unsupported head lags. Some usual sections in the human body which can be affected by a whiplash motion are spinal ligaments, dorsal root ganglion, and invertebral discs in the neck. In addition, there are studies that has recorded pressure transients in the spinal canal when necks are exposed of whiplash motions. These pressure transients explain some symptoms that are associated with whiplash injuries. This thesis aimed to develop an existing Matlab-Simulink program that computes pressure transients in the human spinal canal for all directions of neck motions. The current program was only customized for rear-end collisions, taking sagittal neck motion into account. Furthermore, the input in the program was customized to calculate volume changes in the spinal canal modelled with vertebral angular displacement, whereas the modifications done for this study was based on volume changes from human body model simulations. To obtain the volume changes for each vertebra, a human body model was used called ViVA+. With this approach, the purpose was to get similar results of volume change as the old program did with angular displacement for the sagittal direction. To perform modifications in the program and obtain the desired results, it was divided into different steps. Firstly, modeling in ViVA+ was completed, which was also based on computational settings with crash pulses. The modeling was created in different segments for the vertebras and in sections between each vertebra. Once the modeling was concluded, the desired volume could be achieved, which was put into the MATLAB program. Further, the MATLAB program had to be modified in such a way that it was possible to compute with different types of collisions and directions. For rear-end collisions, something that was noticed was that the airbags had an effect on the motion of the neck. With simulations completed, with and without airbags, it could be concluded that the one with airbags did not reach full extension. However, the amplitude of the pressure obtained was similar to the program’s old version. With the airbags capturing the volume of the segments in a three-dimensional way, it was possible to do the same for other directions, such as lateral motion. One issue regarding the rear-end collisions for not reaching full extension was that the implementation of airbags or its properties had an impact on the stiffness of the HBM. As the aim was to develop the program so that it was possible to calculate the pressure build-up for different directions, it could be concluded that the new modifications were successful, as it was possible to implement on side-collisions

The extent to which the Social Security Institution in Jordan adheres to the requirements of International Accounting Standard No (19) for employee benefits

This study aimed to identify the extent to which the Social Security Institution in Jordan adheres to the requirements of International Accounting Standard No (19) related to employee benefits. The study population included the Social Security Institution in Jordan. As for the sample, it consisted of (78) respondents from financial managers, department heads and their deputies, and accountants working in the financial and accounting departments in the institution. The study found that the institution adheres to the requirements of International Accounting Standard No (19) for short-term and long- term employee benefits, and is also committed to post-service employee benefits and end- of-service benefits. It turned out that the level of this commitment was at a high level. The study recommended the provision of optional and mandatory burdens to the beneficiary within the framework of individual institutions, and the provision of salaries and wages in exchange for performing the service with the associated social and tax burdens

Exhaustive exercise and vitamins C and E modulate thyroid hormone levels at low and high altitudes

Thyroid hormones play an important role in cell growth and differentiation and regulation of oxygen consumption and thermogenesis. The effect of altitude and vitamin supplementation on thyroid hormone levels in animals or humans performing acute exhaustive exercise have not been investigated before. Therefore, we thought to test whether exhaustive exerciseinduced stress with antioxidant supplementation was capable of modulating the level of thyroid hormones at different altitudes. Serum levels of T4 (Thyroxin), T3 (Triiodothyronine), and TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone) were measured in rats (N=36) born and bred in low altitude (600 m above sea level) and high altitude (2200 m above sea level) following forced swimming with or without vitamins C and E (25 mg/kg) pre-treatments. Thyroid levels were significantly decreased in resting rats at high altitude compared to low altitude, and swimming exercise moderately increased T3 and TSH at both high and low altitudes, whereas T4 was markedly increased (62 %) at low altitude compared to a moderate high altitude increase (28 %). Co-administration of vitamins C and E augmented the observed forced swimminginduced thyroid release. However, the conversion of T4 to T3 was reduced in both altitude areas following swimming exercise and vitamin pre-treatment had no effect. We conclude that acute stress induced thyroidal hormones in rats, which was augmented by antioxidant drugs in both high and low altitude areas. These findings may play an important role in the human pathophysiology of thyroid gland at different altitudes

The Influence Of Drug Promotion Techniques On Prescribing Decisions Among Physicians In Sana’a City, Yemen

The pharmaceutical industry invests heavily in promotion, and it uses a variety of promotional strategies to influence physicians’ prescribing decisions. The purpose of this study is to explore those factors used to influence physicians’ prescribing decisions and their role in decision-making process. Specifically, this study investigates the relationships between physicians and medical representative (MRs) and to identify physicians’ perceptions, beliefs and attitudes toward interactions with those MRs, and to explore the potentially modifiable factors influencing those interactions; to identify the main sources of information physicians use to obtain knowledge about new drugs and to explore how they influence physicians’ prescribing decisions; and to investigate the relationship of physicians’ characteristics and practice-setting factors with previous factors. This study was conducted in a step-wise approach. In the first phase, a qualitative research method was adopted to have an in-depth understanding of the phenomenon surrounding the nature and extent of drug promotion techniques. In the second phase, a quantitative method was applied using the cross-sectional. Research was conducted in Sana’a, Yemen. Physicians in public and private hospitals were surveyed. All instruments were tested for its reliability and validity measures

Properties of the fundamental splines of the high order

In this paper, the properties of the fundamental splines of high orders are numerically studied. From the point of view of the interpolation problem, the fundamental spline is a nodal function generated by a family of integer translations of the corresponding basic spline. We have established that with increasing order fundamental splines tend to the sampling function . Analogous assertions were obtained earlier for nodal functions on the basis of other systems of shifts. The behavior of the coefficients of basic splines is studied. With the help of calculations, it is shown that for n>2 there is a sign-reversal and a monotone decreasing modulo

Role of fetal pulmonary artery Doppler in prediction of neonatal respiratory distress in neonates of diabetic mothers

Background: Newborn respiratory complication is one of the most prevalent and life-threatening disorders. The clinical indications of early newborn respiratory distress with consistent radiologic features. The Doppler examination of the primary pulmonary artery in the foetus has been proven to be beneficial. The foetal pulmonary artery At/Et ratio is linked to foetal gestational age and amniotic fluid foetal lung maturity (FLM) tests. The aim of the study was to assess the accuracy of foetal main pulmonary artery (MPA) Doppler indices in prediction of the development of neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) in diabetic mothers.Methods: This was a prospective observational study carried out on 100 cases of diabetic mothers in obstetrics and gynecology department, Tanta University during one year from the approval of the university counsel. The physician evaluated the foetal heart in a methodical manner after a regular ultrasound assessment that included foetal biometry, anomaly scan, measured foetal weight, and amniotic fluid index. Classic chest radiological features include reticulogranular patterns, air bronchogram and ground glass look, as well as the need for surfactant.Results: PI and RI were significantly higher in newborns with RDS than those without RDS (p=0.025 and 0.036 respectively) PSV and At/Et ratio were significantly reduced in neonates with RDS compared with RDS free ones (p=0.004 and <0.001 respectively). RI was significantly higher in neonates with RDS than those without RDS (P = 0.048) PSV and At/Et ratio were significantly reduced in newborns with RDS compared to RDS free ones (p=0.008 and <0.001 respectively). The ROC curve displayed that the cut off value of ≤0.25 for At/Et ratio was associated with a sensitivity of 76.92%, a specificity of 100.0%, a PPV of 100.0% and a NPV of 96.7% for prediction of neonatal RDS with AUC of 0.925 and p≤0.001.Conclusions: development of neonatal RDS in foetus of diabetic mothers with a cut off value of ≤0.25, a sensitivity of 76.92%, a specificity of 100.0%, a PPV of 100.0%, a NPV of 96.7% and AUC of 0.925 The usage of corticosteroids improved the Doppler indices of main pulmonary artery and is accompanied by less morbimortality related to RDS

Needle Stick and Sharp Injuries Among Healthcare Workers: A retrospective six-year study

Objectives: This study aimed to examine the proportion of needle stick and sharp injuries (NSSIs) among healthcare workers at King Hussein Medical Center (KHMC), Amman, Jordan. Methods: All NSSI reports referred from departments at KHMC to the Preventive Medicine Department between 2013–2018 were retrospectively reviewed. Proportion of NSSIs were calculated and stratified according to age, gender, job title, place and site of injury and the procedure/task during which the injury occurred. Results: There were a total of 393 NSSIs. A significant association was found between the proportion of NSSIs and all tested variables (P &lt;0.001). The reported proportion of NSSIs was highest among nurses (39.7%) followed by cleaners (36.3%), physicians (10.4%), other workers (7.4%) and lab technicians (5.9%) during the study’s six-year period. Hospital wards were the most common locations (46.1%) where injuries took place. Injuries also occurred most frequently during medical waste collection (38.2%). Conclusion: The proportion of NSSIs was highest among nurses and cleaners. Safety policies and training among high-risk groups should be reviewed to reduce the risk of NSSIs. Multicentre studies at a national level should be conducted to examine whether this study’s findings reflect national trends.Keywords: Needlestick Injuries; Safety; Self Report; Nurses; Accident Prevention; Jordan

First assessment of hydrogen/brine/Saudi basalt wettability: implications for hydrogen geological storage

Introduction: Underground hydrogen (H2) storage is a prominent technique to enable a large-scale H2-based economy as part of the global energy mix for net-zero carbon emission. Recently, basalts have gained interest as potential caprocks for subsurface H2 storage due to their low permeability, vast extension, and potential volumetric capacity induced by structural entrapment of the buoyant H2. Wettability represents a fundamental parameter which controls the capillary-entrapment of stored gases in porous media.Methods: The present study evaluates the wettability of basalt/H2/brine system of two basalt samples from Harrat Uwayrid, a Cenozoic volcanic field, in Saudi Arabia. The H2/basalt contact angle was measured using a relevant reservoir brine (10% NaCl) under storage conditions of 323K temperature and pressure ranges from 3 to 28 MPa using the modified sessile drop method. The surface roughness of the basaltic rocks was determined to ensure accurate results.Results: The investigated Saudi basalt samples are water-wet, thereby they did not achieve a 100% hydrogen wetting phase even at 28 MPa pressure. The measured contact angles slightly decrease as pressure increases, thereby pressure did not significantly influences the height of the H2 column.Discussion: We interpret this trend to the slight increase in H2 density with increasing pressure as well as to the olivine-rich mineralogical composition of the Saudi basalt. Thus, from the wettability aspects, Saudi basalt has the potential to store a large volume of H2 (&gt;1,400 m height) and maintain its excellent storage capacity even in deep, high-pressure regimes. This study demonstrates that the basalt rock texture (pore throat radii) and mineralogy control their capacity for subsurface H2 storage