The Arabic version of the Stroop Test and its equivalency to the English version

The Stroop test is one of the most popular tests frequently used to assess the function of the frontal lobe in neurological and psychiatric patient populations. Performance on the Stroop test is very sensitive to lesions of the frontal lobes and is commonly used in clinical settings. In 1999, we decided to find out if the Stroop test will be as reliable after translation to the Arabic language as the original English version. We completed the work in Riyadh Military Hospital in 2000. A sample of 10 Saudi adult healthy individuals participated in this study. Their mean age was 31.9 and their mean years of education were 17.3. All subjects performed the Arabic and the English versions of Stroop test. Performance showed no differences between the English and the Arabic versions of the Stroop test. Equivalency data between the two versions of Stroop test are provided. The availability of this data will help us to provide a normative data for the Saudi Committee of Health Education, and in carrying out research on frontal lobe function

The production of new affordable housing in the Syrian cities : the possible role of procurement processes in improving construction efficiency

Despite the Syrian government’s commitment to provide adequate and affordable housing, through housing programmes implemented over successive five-year development plans, there is still a shortage of affordable homes for low-income people. This shortfall can be attributed to constraints at two basic levels: housing system design (strategic level) and housing system implementation (operational level). Housing policies and construction practices systematically lack the proper strategies and sophisticated approaches for change. In contrast, the UK government has adopted strategic and operational mechanisms for enforcing change in publically-funded projects through a reform agenda (policy package) aimed at creating innovative collaborative relationships between client organisations, and private sector consortia. In this, the procurement processes were seen as a key driver to stimulate change for effective provision of affordable housing. This study aimed to investigate possible efficiency improvements in the affordable housing supply process in Syria, focusing on the role of more sophisticated approaches to project delivery, i.e. the procurement process. Data collected through a literature review and interviews with key informants from both the UK and Syria, forms the basis for a comparative assessment on how lessons learned from the UK experience can be applied in the Syrian context. This study advocates a holistic, top-down process involving the legal, cultural, technical and financial aspects of affordable housing supply and concludes that addressing the Syrian housing deficit requires modification of structural policies, principles and strategies of government intervention to foster collaboration between public and private sectors

An investigation of heterogeneous base catalysed acetone conversion

A series of materials have been compared for their activity in the base catalysed condensation of acetone. Activities have been compared after extended times on stream (18 h) and under a H2 containing atmosphere at elevated pressure which is designed to mimic conditions applicable for the single stage transformation of acetone to MIBK. In general, catalysts without a strong hydrogenation function have been screened and so mesityl oxide is the dominant reaction product. However, 1%Pd5%MgO/SiO2 does exhibit high selectivity towards MIBK, demonstrating that single-stage conversion is possible under the conditions investigated. Catalytic activity is found to be a strong function of the material tested. However, when the influence of surface area is taken into account, a spectrum of area normalised conversion rates is evident. These rates were found to vary in the order 36.5% KNO3/Al2O3 > Li/MgO > 36.5% KNO3/ZrO2 > 36.5% KNO3/Zr(OH)4 > MgO derived from Mg(OH)2.MgCO3 > 14% KNO3/Al2O3 > MgO derived from Mg(OH)2 > 14% KNO3/Zr(OH)4 > ZrO2 > 14% KNO3/ZrO2 > Y-Zr(OH)4. When comparing materials produced from different precursors, differences in catalytic behaviour are apparent implying structure-sensitivity and/or the influence of different impurity contents. The role of dopant, additional phase level and precursor phase has also been examined demonstrating that all these parameters are important

The Effect of Using Computer Technology Tools to Enhance the Teaching-Learning Process in CAD-CAM-CNC Module in Mechanical Engineering Subject Area

This study presents the evaluation of Computer Assisted Learning (CAL) package included in the teaching and learning methodology of computer aided design- computer aided design - computer numerical control (CAD-CAM-CNC) module. Three groups of students with similar pre-abilities were exposed to three different teaching learning methodologies.The effectiveness of these three methods was determined by questionnaires completed by the students and collected by first author. Their answers were analysed quantitatively and qualitatively. The various categories used in the questionnaire was student’s attitudes towards learning CAD-CAM-CNC subjects, students’ opinions about their lecturers approaches to teaching process, students’ opinions and views about various aspects the CAD-CAM-CNC. The study concludes that the students taught with a combination of CAL package and traditional methods were more effective, efficient and satisfied with their learning experiences. So the proposed hybrid learning method (CAI plus traditional teaching method) is most suited for CAD-CAM-CNC teaching. Computer Technology; Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI); Computer Assisted Learning (CAL); Computer Aided Design (CAD); Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM); Computer Numerical Control (CNC)

The Role of Managerial Accountant in the Measurement of Managerial Performance at the Jordanian Industrial Companies

The study aimed to define  managerial accountant role in the measurement of managerial performance, where researcher used the questionnaire to measure performance and the study sample consist of  managers and accountants located in the middle management who amounted to 156 individuals distributed on the industrial companies registered at Amman stock exchange (ASE). The researcher found a role for each of the quality, cost, and added economical value measurements, as well as for customer satisfaction on the managerial performance at Jordanian industrial companies. The researcher recommended to increase the concern and attention of training employees at the managerial section and managerial accountant, and increase the management awareness, in order to improve the accounting methods and upgrade the level of managerial accountant, taking into account the role of managerial accountant in the accounting quality used in the middle management. Keywords:Managerial accountant, costs system, performances quality, added economical value, customers satisfaction

The Role of the 28 Modified Income and Sales Tax Law for the Year 2009 in Reducing Tax Evasion

This study aims to find out the role of the exemptions granted for companies to reduce tax evasion, the size of sales and their role in reducing evasion, and the role of the legal form and the development of moral awareness in reducing tax evasion.  The researcher distributed 56 questionnaires to the competent authorities in the Income Tax Department. It was found, through statistical treatment that, there is a role country’s of the exemptions and sales, the legal nature, and the development of moral awareness in reducing tax evasion. It is recommended to increase ethical and religious awareness of taxable categories through workshops and seminars to encourage community members to participate responsibly, and to work to achieve Tax Justice, which helps to develop satisfaction of the tax among tax community members. Keywords: Income, Sales Tax Law, Tax Evasion

A model for developing dependable system using component-based software development approach / Hasan Kahtan Khalaf Al-Ani

Component-based software development (CBSD) is an emerging technology that focuses on building systems by integrating existing software components. The software industry has adopted CBSD to rapidly build and deploy large and complex software systems with enormous savings despite minimal engineering effort, cost, and time. CBSD provides several benefits, such as improved ability to reuse existing codes, reduced development costs of high-quality systems, and shorter development time. However, CBSD encounter issues in terms of security trust mainly in dependability attributes. A system is considered dependable when it can be depended on to produce the consequences for which it was designed, with no adverse effect in its intended environment. Dependability comprises several attributes that imply availability, confidentiality, integrity, reliability, safety, and maintainability. Embedding dependability attributes in CBSD is essential for developing dependable component software

Design, analysis and construction of a simple pulse duplicator system

One of the most important human diseases that need to be considered in terms of development of the medical engineering devices is cardiovascular disease which is a significant cause of death globally recently. Valvular heart disease is normally treated by restoring or altering heart valves with an artificial one. But the new prosthetic valve designs necessitate testing for durability estimate and failure method. It is significant to simulate the circulation system by the building of a pulse duplicator system. This study is stated by clarifying the parameter and implementation steps of the pulse duplicator system in which the different researchers have utilized the system and tried to explain the design steps of using this system without going into the system design by steps or what are the main part of this system and how can be implemented, tested, and developed individually. In this design, a DC motor produces, through a hydraulic piston, a flow pulse to the left ventricle chamber model, which is linked with two interchangeable prosthetic heart valves. The computer is used to control and process data from volumetric flow rate and image. The findings show that the linear displacement, the velocity of the piston and the linear acceleration regularly become significant particularly and follows a sinusoidal wave shape during one cycle, when (crank length/connecting rod length) value is equal 0.2 or less. Several sets of measured flow rate readings were obtained by using flow meter sensor YF-S201, results after calibration showed the error rate falls within permissible limit