A Human Body Mathematical Model Biometric Using Golden Ratio: A New Algorithm

This research provides more than 35 measurements rules derived from the perspectives of Vitruvian Man and Neufert and their basis of the golden proportion, to build a human body model on computers for the use of multimedia. The measurements are based on 25 proportional rules derived from 15 proportions given by Vitruvian Man and 29 golden proportions in Bauentwurfslehre by Ernst Neufert. Furthermore, the research will suggest two algorithms to calculate the 67 measurements with precision; assuming that the algorithms output will be used as guideline to human body modelers in simulation, gaming, plastic surgery, as well as the world of biometrics or wherever human body measurements and calculations is needed like prosthetic limbs, spatial design, and machine learning of human biometrics. Furthermore, building proportional models creates visual harmony in measurements and visual parity model. Hence, the chapter facilitates and explains for the human modeler the process of human modeling from within an algorithm. This research is an expanded work based on two published conference papers listed in the references section

Innovative Application of Scrap-tire Steel Cords in Concrete Mixes

More than 2.5 million scrap-tires are produced in Jordan each year. In addition, more than three million tires are currently stockpiled throughout the country. However, only one company has been established in the country for the recycling, recovery and reuse of scrap-tires. Currently, this industry is facing many challenges due to lack of support and subsidies from the government. Many researchers have investigated the use of recycled tire products in several traditional civil engineering materials. This research is exploring the use of steel cords, a by product of the tire recycling process, in concrete mixes. Different concrete specimens were fabricated and tested in uniaxial compression and splitting tensile strength. The steel cords were substituted into the concrete mix in volumetric percentages of 0% (control), 2%, 4%, 6%, 8% and 10%. Results show that mechanical properties of concrete made with steel cords are improved compared with concrete mix made with the traditional scrap-tires recycled material (such as crump rubber or rubber chips). Also, the test results show that even though the compressive strength is reduced when using steel cords, this reduction is minimal. When 2% of steel cords are used, there is an 18% increase in ductility. Moreover, splitting tensile tests show that concrete mixtures with any steel cords content have much greater toughness than the control mixture. This mechanical property mix indicates an excellent potential application of modified concrete mix in structures that absorb large amounts of energy. On the contrary, the density, air content and workability of the mixtures fabricated were not significantly affected

Benchmarking open source deep learning frameworks

Deep Learning (DL) is one of the hottest fields. To foster the growth of DL, several open source frameworks appeared providing implementations of the most common DL algorithms. These frameworks vary in the algorithms they support and in the quality of their implementations. The purpose of this work is to provide a qualitative and quantitative comparison among three such frameworks: TensorFlow, Theano and CNTK. To ensure that our study is as comprehensive as possible, we consider multiple benchmark datasets from different fields (image processing, NLP, etc.) and measure the performance of the frameworks' implementations of different DL algorithms. For most of our experiments, we find out that CNTK's implementations are superior to the other ones under consideration

Perceptions of government employees About the introduction of Accrual-based accounting into the Jordanian public sector

The purpose of this study is to examine the implementation of accrual-based accounting into the Jordanian public sector. The focus of interest is to test a number of hypotheses about the perceptions of government employees toward the implementation of accrual-based accounting in the Jordanian public sector. The views of accountants and finance officers working in the health and education departments, which have been attempting to employ accrual-based accounting since the introduction of Program and Performance Budgeting (PPB) in 1996, are compared with those of accountants and finance officers working at departments which do not, for the purpose of determining whether there are any significant differences in the perceptions of the two groups regarding the feasibility of adopting accrual-based accounting into the Jordanian public sector. A survey questionnaire was distributed to a representative sample of 611 government accountants and finance officers who work within different Jordanian public sector departments. The findings have revealed a support in principle for the introduction of accrual-based accounting. However, technical difficulties (i.e. assets valuation) were associated with its implementation, which may have prevented the government from achieving the intended outcomes of the reform. Different opinions have emerged between the users and non-users sample groups as to the implementation of accrual-based accounting into the Jordanian public sector. Regardless of the preference amongst the majority of respondents from both groups for using accrual-based accounting, the debate seems to continue over the implementation of accrual accounting into public sector

The Authors Abuse of the Moral Right in the Jordanian Legislation: A Comparative Study

The moral rights of the author are fundamental and protect their intellect and creativity. Despite its importance to the author in particular and society in general, leaving such rights unrestricted is not acceptable because the objective of the law is to regulate various transactions and relationships between people. Therefore, establishing frameworks governing copyright law is deemed useful. By way of examining Jordanian, local, and international legislation, the researchers find that the legislator has not effectively regulated this matter to prevent the author from exercising their moral rights in a way that harms others. Despite the close connection between the moral right and the economic one, the issue of moral right abuse by the author has not been addressed, even though its elements are present in some of the authors practices. Furthermore, the legal texts tackling the subject are more contentious due to their vague and ambiguous wording, leaving legal interpreters to exert effort to understand the intentions behind these words and terms. In the quest to investigate this topic, the study draws several conclusions, the most important of which is the absence of any obstacle to applying the theory of the authors abuse of their moral rights in their practices. The study also shows that the value of compensation specified in the law is not defined by criteria, making it impossible to estimate the value of the loss suffered by the affected party as a result of the authors exercise of their moral rights, as the value of profit is not identified

Assessing Mechanical Properties of Hot Mix Asphalt with Wire Wool Fibers

This paper investigates the potential application of wire wool in the modification of hot asphalt mixes (HMA). Wire wool material is widely available at local markets as a by-product of wire wool industry and as waste products from homes. For the purpose of this study, wire wool was cut into small pieces so that it can be placed in the asphalt mixes. Different percentages of wire wool were incorporated with the hot asphalt mixes (0.0%, 0.25%, and 0.5%) of the total weight of the asphalt binder. Various experimental tests were used to evaluate the modification effectiveness of combining wire wool with hot asphalt mixes, namely, the Marshall Stability, indirect tensile strength (ITS), dynamic creep, fatigue, and rutting tests. Test results proved that the addition of wire wool increased the tensile strength of the asphalt concrete mixes. However, rutting increased due to increasing percentage of wire wool. Therefore, mixes containing wire wool can be used in areas where rutting is not the expected predominant distress type

Topographic and Clinical Characteristics of a Sample of Jordanian Students

Purpose: To screen for keratoconus (KC) and potential associated risk factors in a sample of medical students. Methods: This cross sectional study included 120 medical students studying at The University of Jordan. They were randomly selected from a total of 400 students. Participants responded by completing a self-administered questionnaire. Following initial clinical evaluation, corneal tomography images and indices were analyzed by an experienced ophthalmologist, after which the participants were classified into: normal, KC suspects and KC patients. Results: A total of 120 participants (mean age, 23.1 ±0.5 years) were included in this study, 70 (58.3%) were females and 50 (41.7%) were males. Two subjects had KC, demonstrating a prevalence of 1.7% while five (4.2%) participants showed at least two abnormal indices and were considered as KC suspects.Conclusion: the result of this study is similar to other studies conducted in the Middle East, which indicates a higher prevalence of KC than other western countries. Combined with the significantly impaired vision-related quality of life and the relatively young onset of disease, the burden of keratoconus represents a significant public health concern

Outcome of Penetrating Keratoplasty (PKP) and Redo PKP among Jordanian Population

Background: The success of penetrating keratoplasty (PKP) is determined by the duration of graft survival, which is the time to graft failure. Our study aims to identify various indications of corneal graft among our Jordanian population, their success rate as well as spotting the light on cases of re-grafting. Methods: In this study, we analyzed data for patients who had PKP as well as re-do PKP in the period from January 2014 to June 2017. For each study eye, we identified pre-operative visual acuity as well as visual acuity at six months and one year. We also focused on the specific indication for PKP, the surgical procedure and graft clarity at one year post-op. On SPSS statistical analysis software, we used repeated measure ANOVA, Pearson correlations, and Fischer’s exact test to analyze our study’s variables.Results: We included a total of 230 patients in this study with a mean age of 34.22 (±19.32). They were 112 (48.7%) males and 118 (±51.3%) females. We found a significant difference in mean age and outcome (p< 0.001), as the mean age for patients with successful PKP was 31.55 (±16.55) compared to 44.1 (±25.1) for patients with failed PKP. the success rate for patients with KC as an indication was 96.7% compared to only 58.3% for other indications. We found that failure rate in redo surgeries was significantly higher than first time surgeries.Conclusion: Among the Jordanian population, we found that Keratoconus was the main indication for PKP in our population, where we also found that it was associated with the best prognosis

Internet of Things: Underwater routing based on user’s health status for smart diving

Technological advancements affect everyday life; they benefited our daily routines, habits, and activities. Underwater diving is one of the most interesting and attractive activities for tourists worldwide but could be risky and challenging. When paths are not clear, diving might take additional time and effort leading to some health problems. Thus, providing divers with proper direction information to surf underwater can be useful and helpful. Also, monitoring diverse health statuses and alerting them in case of any undesirable condition can increase their safety. Smart devices such as mobiles, watches, sensor devices, cellular networks along with the Internet of Things (IoT) can all provide location-based services. Such services can help in providing the best path for the divers and monitor their health status during diving. This paper proposes a new underwater routing approach, called Underwater Routing for Smart Diving “URSD”, which provides divers with routing information to visit underwater cultural or natural resources and monitors their health status during the diving period. The URSD approach was simulated and compared with the shortest path. Results showed that the URSD helped divers to route within paths that have a larger number of nodes, furthermore, it could enhance and improve divers experience and help them mitigate underwater risks